Tales of Equestrian City- the Back Roads

by Alden MacManx

02- Blaise Meets the Phoenix

Blaise Arrow, as was his custom after a rough day at work, was easing his tensions by going out for a five-mile jog/run around the area of Equestrian City where he lived. Even after residing in Equestrian City for a few years now, the tall, fit, gray-skinned Eastern military veteran wanted to learn more about his adopted city. Going for a daily run or jog did the trick for him. He always chose a different path for his runs, so as to see different sights every day.

This day had him going down to the dock area of the city. He generally went that way once a week or so, just for variety. As he jogged along the street that ran alongside the docks, he caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, a flash of flames up in the air. Turning to look, he saw someone flying above the warehouses that lined the riverfront, flames trailing from its hands, the flaming person making a sudden plunge into the warehouse next to him.

Quickly, Blaise took cover on the far side of the street, diving behind some loaded scrap dumpsters awaiting pickup. Once under cover, he looked at the warehouse the flames went into. Nothing was visible to him at the time, so he sprinted back across the street, peering in a window, looking, scooting to another window and peering in again, as befitted his basic military training from the Eastern Empire.

As he got to the corner of the building, he looked around said corner, to see an open door and a van pulled up alongside it. Curious, he approached the open door, using sprint-and-cover. Several loud crashes and bangs came from a room beyond the one he could see into, divided by a folding wall arrangement. As he looked and listened, there was a loud meaty sounding SMACK from the other side of the wall, the wall shook then gave way, a body dressed in black coming through the wall, flames flickering around the body’s hands, impacting the side of the van before sagging limply to the ground.

Blaise recognized the lady (he could tell that by now) from newscasts as The Phoenix, a local heroine. The red and yellow hair helped in his identification as well. He was about to go to her when three people came through the destroyed folding wall, one very large woman flanked by two smaller women. “You hit her a little too hard, Lisa! If the van has dents, the boss ain’t gonna like it!” the one on Blaise’s left, a slim orange haired woman, said.

“You did say hit her and knock her out. Lisa knocked Phoenix out,” said the big one.

“You’re stronger than you look, knocking her through the wall and then some,” the blue-haired woman on the right said.

“Let’s get her tied up and put into the van, then go get what we came here for. Hauling in the Phoenix will really please the boss!” the orange-haired one said, apparently the group’s leader.

Blaise hid as the trio swiftly bound the Phoenix in tape, placing her inside the van, leaving the door open when they left to get what they were looking for. Once the terrible trio was gone, Blaise raced out from his hiding spot, opened the hood of the van, reached in and removed the plug wires from the spark plugs, taking two of the six out completely and messing the rest. Leaving the hood up, he then went inside the van to check on the Phoenix.

As he did a quick check of the Phoenix, her eyes snapped open. Blaise raised a finger to his lips before saying in his accented monotone voice, “Remain still. I will free you. Heroes need help, ja?” he droned before pulling a small knife out from his pocket, opening it, and carefully slitting the tape holding the Phoenix’s wrists together, then the tape around her ankles.

The Phoenix looked up at her savior, seeing the scars that covered the left side of his head up to almost the eye, the light gray of the scars standing out against his charcoal gray skin and golden hair, the sweatshirt hoodie having fallen back. “Who are you?” she whispered, her stomach trying not to turn handsprings at the sight of his scars.

“A friend,” Blaise droned, his voice nor his expression changing from the base blankness. “Fit to move are you yet?”

The Phoenix removed the tape from her wrists and ankles. “I think so. That big one punches HARD!” she whispered before wincing. “Make that maybe not. I think she cracked some ribs.”

Blaise took position at the van door, looking inside the building. “Then to a doctor you should go. Broken ribs painful,” he droned as grayish-white light formed around his hands, the one on his right hand forming into a small shield, the one on his left forming a small crossbow.

“What are you doing?” Phoenix gasped out, an injudicious movement sending a flare of pain through her chest.

“Covering your escape. Go now before they come out. Call police if able to. Get to a doctor. Helping heroes is the right thing to do,” Blaise said.

“I don’t want them getting away with the shipment,” Phoenix hissed.

“Van no go. Fixed it. You go now,” Blaise told her as he raised his crossbow to a ready position, the bolt glowing a bright blue.

“Right. You keep yourself safe,” Phoenix told Blaise as she got out of the van, moving clear so she could take off.

“First rule of combat. If you manage to get back to camp and sleep, you win battle,” Blaise said as the big woman, Lisa, came out of the hole in the partition wall, carrying a large metal box.

Blaise fired a bolt, watching it fly straight and true into the box, where it burst in a flare of blue light, the metal box quickly heating up, turning red. Lisa screamed as the box handles burned her hands and the box itself burning her chest. “Go!” Blaise ordered as loud as he could. The Phoenix took off in a flare of flames.

Lisa had dropped the box, which landed on her feet, causing her to scream again. The other two women rushed out from behind the partition wall, only to fall to two bolts from Blaise’s crossbow, the two falling limply to the floor, stunned. Blaise also shot Lisa with a stun bolt, to stop her screaming. As he heard sirens approaching, Blaise dissipated his crossbow, ran to the river and dove in, heedless of the temperature. A strong swimmer, he managed to swim three piers down before surfacing. He listened for a moment before diving and swimming down two more piers before climbing out of the water. He managed to wring out his sweats before squishing his way home, the jog keeping him warm.

At Rare Innovations tower, Sunset Shimmer was sitting on a table, her shirt and bra off, getting medical tape wrapped around her chest by Twilight Sparkle. “How did you manage to break your ribs like that, Sunset? Two in the front, and one in the back,” Twilight asked.

“You get punched by a big-ass brick of a lady, flying through a partition wall and not stopping until you ram into the side of a van, and see how YOUR ribs get broken!” Sunset snapped as Twilight set the tape in place.

“So, did they get away?” Twilight asked as Spike sent a motile out with pain medication and a glass of water for Sunset.

“No, they didn’t. I had some help,” Sunset said before describing the events as she knew them.

As she got near to the end of her description, Twilight stopped her. “He said helping heroes is the right thing to do?” she asked, a confused look on her face.

“Yes, he said that. He has an Eastern accent, and his voice and expression never changed. The left side of his head is marred with scars, from the back all the way up to here,” Sunset explained, wincing some as she touched her face just behind the left eye.

“I’ve seen someone like him, here, in the building. Spike, is there anyone on staff of Rare Innovations that fits Sunset’s description?” Twilight asked.

Spike appeared on a monitor wearing a deerstalker cap. He fished through a file cabinet, found a file and pulled it out. “Yes, I found him,” Spike declared as the file came up on the nine-monitor bank in the wall of the lab. A picture filled the upper left-hand corner screen.

“Name: Blaise Arrow. Six feet one inch tall, one hundred eighty-five pounds. Started work with Silver Innovations, came along when Silver Innovations became Rare Innovations. Age thirty-three, veteran of the Eastern Empire’s military, getting a medical discharge after getting injured in some sort of missile blast, details here are vague,” Spike recited before taking a breath and going on. “Works at Rare Innovations as a member of the I.T. department, evaluations always high, but tends to work alone because of his appearance and personality. He is unable to express emotions of any type.

“No evidence of metahuman abilities noted in his files,” Spike concluded. “Want to see his evaluations?”

“No, thank you, Spike,” Twilight said. “I remember him now. I have not seen him in some time.”

“That’s because he never comes here to your R&D labs, Twilight. You handle any issues we have,” Spike told her.

“You do have a point, Spike,” Twilight said before turning to Sunset. “Is this the fellow?” she asked, pointing to the monitor.

Sunset nodded, shivering some. “Yes. Seeing him here in a picture is different than at night, waking up from a daze. He’s even creepier looking now than he was a while ago.”

“Creepy or not, tomorrow I’ll ask Mister Arrow to come up here for a small private talk,” Twilight said firmly. “Would be good to have some hidden backup.”

The next morning, Blaise was at his desk ten minutes before the start of his shift, as was normal for him. He had just logged into his computer when an email popped up, from Doctor Twilight Sparkle, head of R&D. The email contained only one line, that saying ‘Report to my office immediately’. So, Blaise wasted no time going to Doctor Sparkle’s office.

When he went in to the office, Blaise stopped dead in his tracks as he gazed upon Twilight. This Doctor Sparkle is a virtual twin to someone he knew in the Eastern Empire, a lady known as Professor Midnight. Blaise would admit, if there was anyone in this world that frightened him, it would be Professor Midnight. Unconsciously, he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, where, hidden under a surgical scar, was a tiny explosive charge linked to a processor that is listening to everything he says. If he tried to give details about the Empire’s advanced weapons systems, his head would be severed from his body, and he knew it. “You asked to see me, Doctor Sparkle?” he said in his usual droning voice.

“Yes, Mister Arrow. Shut the door and sit down. Coffee?” Twilight asked politely.

“Nein. Tea, please,” Blaise said as he shut the door and sat down. A small wheeled drone brought a cup of tea over. “What do you want to see me about, Doctor Sparkle?”

Twilight waited until Blaise picked up the foam cup before asking, “Where were you last night about eight-thirty p.m.?”

Blaise’s face showed no reaction, except for his eyes, which dilated wide for about three seconds before constricting again. His hand did not shake as he sipped his tea. “I was on my evening jog, Doctor Sparkle. It is something I do almost every night. Keeping in shape is the right thing to do, ja?”

“Yes, it is the right thing to do. Did something… unusual… happen while you were jogging last night?” Twilight asked, staring intently at Blaise, who sat in his chair, apparently unperturbed, but Twilight can see his eyes widening in what she took to be absolute terror.

“Since you are asking, Doctor, I am to presume you already know about it, ja?” Blaise asked, setting his teacup down.

“Yes,” Twilight said, looking at Blaise intently. “How long have you known you are a meta?”

“Since about a year and a half after I arrived here in Equestrian City. I was threatened with attack, the bow and shield manifested, and I drove off the attackers.”

“So, Emperor Sombra does not know about you?”

“Nein, neither him nor Professor Midnight. If they do find out, I will be forced to return to the Eastern Empire and be compelled to serve again in the armed forces. I do not want that. I am… happy… here, as far as it can be said I am… happy,” Blaise managed to say.

“Your reviews show you to be utterly emotionless, which tends to unsettle some people, in addition to your obvious scars. Somehow, I do not think that is entirely true,” Twilight said as a challenge.

“I am not emotionless, Doctor Sparkle, I just cannot express emotions,” he said, reaching up to tap the left side of his head. “The blast that did this also removed some pieces of my brain, making me unable to show emotional responses. I can try to force shows of emotion, but the results are even more unsettling to others.”

“I can imagine. I promise to keep your secret. I am currently getting to know some of the local heroes, such as the Phoenix. She thanks you for your help. She did have three broken ribs,” Twilight explained. “Basically, if I ever feel the need for someone of your skills and talents, may I call on you?”

Blaise pondered the question before nodding. “Ja. You can call on me, if you need to, because it is the right thing to do. I would request one thing before you do. A mask that covers my head and the scarring,” he said, tapping the left side of his head.

Twilight smiled at Blaise. “I have thought of that, Mister Arrow. That is why I had these made up for you,” she said, pushing a button on her desk. Another drone rolled out, this one bearing some gray material in it. “This is a body suit made of reinforced fabric, with armor inserts around key parts of your anatomy. The hood is of a matching color, with no eye slit visible. It’s padded as well, along with a built-in transceiver that I can remotely program in case you are needed to work.”

As Blaise felt the slick, breathable fabric, she went on. “I will have that delivered to you, in a briefcase, at the end of your shift. Needless to say, this meeting has never officially happened.”

“Understood, Professor. No one needs to know. If called upon, I shall serve. Why? Because it is the right thing to do, ja?” Blaise stood up, fought visibly NOT to salute before bowing, doing a sharp about-face and heading out of Twilight’s office.

As the door shut behind him, Twilight could only ask herself, “What does he mean by calling me ‘Professor’?”

Author's Note:

So, the hidden meta meets a real hero at work. Heroes need friends, heroes need help. It is only right to help a hero, ja?

Episode Three next week! Stay tuned!
ducks the stage hook before dashing offscreen

Comments

[DavisSentoV5]

I don't know what's more interesting about Arrow? The fact, if the Empire finds out about his powers, he's forced to go back against his will or his forever cursed to be emotionless, due to his injury of his last mission destroying parts of nerves in his brain... Either way, his character development is more intriguing than before.