There was a loud, psychotic laughter from the sky as a pair of rocket thrusters burst to life high in the atmosphere. A single human, propelled by a pair of powerful rocket boots, was streaking through the sky, leaving trails through the clouds she dropped through. Without warning, the rocket boots erupted with additional power, sending her diveboming towards the ground at a terrifying rate. 2000 feet.
An electronic bleep caught her attention, and a holographic screen appeared in front of her. A woman, dressed sharply and with significant dignity, glared the dive bomber in the face.
“For the love of the goddess, Blazz! Pull up before you become nothing but a smoldering crater! You’re travelling far beyond the speed of sound at exactly 0 degrees straight downward!”
Blazz only grinned as she suddenly swept her feet downward, and the rocket boosters cut out for merely a split second before activating again, shifting her momentum drastically from vertical to horizontal. She went rocketing forward, parallel to the ground, before she dropped again and let her feet point downward as the thrusters provided a more controlled burst. She came to a screeching halt on the ground, leaving a long trail of char and ash in the bright green grass behind her. She stood upright with a wide, maniacal grin on her face, and with a simple grip from over her shoulder, she hoisted a massive handheld cannon. With the appearance of a minigun, the weapon’s hextuple barrels clanked into gear and rotated shortly, like someone revving a car engine or a chainsaw for dramatic effect. The weapon was needlessly complicated, covered in unmarked levers and buttons, screens, gauges, and the like. Yet, Blazz seemed to know exactly which control did what, as she flicked three levers back and pressed a button, and the machine responded with a metallic clank and a satisfying beep. The six barrels suddenly extended outwards, and a much larger central barrel telescoped its way through the center. The barrels retracted, leaving the single cannon barrel extended and prepared to fire.
Blazz herself had changed significantly. Her face was lined with burn marks, battle scars, and slight discolorations from the woman’s many experiences. Her hair, tied into long twin ponytails, was now a very silvery grey, despite her generally young age of 40. It had gotten even more grey than before. Most notable was her eye- or rather, the lack of one. Her left eye was covered by a black medical eyepatch, firmly attached to her head as though it had not moved in quite a long time. Still, her tough boots, jacket, and jeans remained, as well as her short red ‘hero’ cape. This time, though, she came equipped with a rather durable pair of work gloves, clearly expecting to experience some hard work.
The holographic screen appeared in front of her again, projected seemingly by something she wore on her jacket. A small, electronic pin, of sorts.
“Good Goddess, Blazz. You shouldn’t be so reckless in a time of peril. You are here for a reason.”
The pyromaniac only cackled and hoisted her massive cannon up, almost effortlessly leaning the gargantuan gun over her shoulder.
“Oh please, Veliche. You should have a bit more faith in the girl with every degree of science and many years of experience testing and learning every nook and cranny of physics, and by proxy, thermodynamics!”
“Veliche?”
“Oh, fine. I’m sorry, ‘cap’. So, what’s your opinion about the new holo-contact pins? Spent like, three days making these prototypes.”
“Yes, they work very efficiently, Blazz. However, I do not think we have the resources for mass production of these during wartime.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve already got that figured out. I can make hundreds of these things using my own funding-”
“Sergeant Blazz, as much as I would appreciate this discussion about improving our communications technology, you are here for a reason. I suggest you move forward with it.”
“Well, I would, if the rest of my squad was here.”
And not soon afterwards, a ‘sortie’, one of the personnel transports of the flying fortress Blazz had fallen from, came floating down and landed beside her. Out hopped a variety of soldiers, including a familiar assistant to the pyromaniac. Aisha saluted her boss and hopped over to her side.
“Ah, good to have you on the ground, Aisha! Finally. What took you guys so long?”
“The pilot was trying not to kill us all on impact.”
“Pff, didn’t stop me.”
The captain on the holographic comms cleared her throat.
“I hope the presence of your assistant doesn’t distract you from your mission, Blazz. We only respected this request because you insisted that you’d need her.”
“Oh, trust me! I will need her! I know very well what I’m doing, you can count on that.”
“Very well, then. You have your briefing, contact me over the holo-pin when you have found what you are looking for.”
“Ah, so you really like the idea of these things, eh?”
“Get on with it, Sergeant.”
The comms shut, and Blazz merely chuckled. She glanced back at the soldiers and her assistant, swinging the cannon over into both of her hands again as she nodded behind her.
“Well, come on. Lapenshard ain’t gonna find itself.”
Several hours later, after trekking through the deep, corrupted thicket of the shadow-infected land, the group decided to take a break, having found no sign of what they were looking for. Banding together in a small circle, the soldiers took turns keeping a lookout for monsters that infested the land, while Blazz sat down with Aisha, inspecting a holographic map projection that the scientist had set up. Her massive cannon laid barrel-up, as she leaned on it with her elbow.
“-And that should be the center then, right?”
“...Seems so, boss. Is that where we’re going, then?”
“Sure is. Can’t be anywhere else around here. See? Told you my tech was amazing.”
“It sure is, boss! Though, why couldn’t you get these readings earlier?”
“You understand how powerful these shards are, right? They give off so much pure energy that at further distances, it becomes muddled with other energy networks and grids. They’re so attuned to flowing smoothly that they basically mix themselves with other electron flows, so without getting closer to the source, we can’t actually well define its exact location. But don’t worry- I’ve already got a project set aside for fixing THAT, too!”
“Wow! Already? Boss, you’re on top of things as always!”
“Heh, I know I am, Aisha! So-”
Both were cut off when a light beeping tone was heard from Aisha’s pocket. They glanced down in tandem as she pulled a phone from her pocket. One glance to her boss, and a shrug from Blazz, and she answered it.
“...Yello? Uh- Oh! He...y? Wait, what- Slow down. One at a time. Okay..”
Blazz squinted with her single eye, curious but not quite tempted enough to barge in.
“...Uh.. okay. Why call me, though-? ..Oh. Okay. Uh, thanks. I’ll let her know.”
Aisha hung up, and glanced over at Blazz with a nervous grin. Her boss only raised her eyebrow, adding to her unamused expression.
“..So uh.. Boss.”
“You gonna break it to me in a way that makes me angry or one that makes me way too curious for my own good?”
“I don’t- really think you’re gonna like it.”
“The former, then.”
“Well, uh.. How can I put this.”
“Just say it as it is, Aisha. I hate it when people try to ‘explain it better’. Just say it and save us both the tro-”
“Your mother wants to meet with you.”
There were several beats of silence as Blazz just stared at Aisha, completely blank. Not a word was exchanged, not a glint of expression from the pyromaniac. Some of the soldiers glanced back at her, some confused, some beginning to panic. Eventually, Blazz blinked, and shook her head.
“...Care to repeat that?”
“Your.. uh.. Mother wants to meet with-”
“I heard you the first time.”
“Oh, but- you said-”
“I know what I said. I want you to shut up for a second, okay?”
“..Okay-”
“SHH.”
Blazz shut her eye and stood up, leaning on her cannon. The various soldiers and Aisha both looked on, very obviously disturbed and concerned not just for Blazz, but also for themselves. After a few seconds, she opened her eye again, staring at Aisha with an obviously forced ‘relaxed smile’.
“...SO. Where does she… want to meet?”
“...Uh, boss?”
“Yeys?”
“...Uh… Tria’s.. Coffee & Crumb Cafe.”
Another beat of silence as Blazz just stared wordlessly at her uncomfortable assistant.
“...Sounds.. Like a date! Why don’t you.. See to it that she knows I’ll see her there.”
“Are you- sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, why would I be sure? Surest I’ve ever been in my life! COULDN’T BE MORE SURE! HAHA! THE ONE PERSON ALIVE IN MY LIFE WHO I WISH MORE THAN ANYTHING I COULD.. —WANTING TO HAVE A NICE CHAT OVER LUNCH?! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH THIS?!”
Aisha put a hand out and placed it on Blazz’s shoulder as she began to whip wildly around, in order to stop her boss from devolving into further madness.
“..You know, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Blazz took a deep breath and closed her single eye, attempting regaining control of herself. She let the breath out, then turned and glanced Aisha in the eyes.
“Oh, I do want to.”
___
The shadow-infested land was scorched that day, a trail blazed through it by an overwhelming wall of fire, fueled by wrath and spite. The pyromaniac left as she came- shredding everything in her path and leaving nothing but destruction in her wake. What remained was burned to ashes, lingering flames of hatred licking at what little still stood after the scorching rain.
___
Blazz had been waiting for fifteen minutes prior to the meeting time arranged, sitting down at one of the cafe’s tables in the middle of the dining room. The cafe was moderately busy, with most of the tables seating one to two people. Everyone seemed to be having a jolly time. Except for the pyromaniac, who sat at her table with a sucker in her mouth. Every second, she tapped a different finger on the table, in a seemingly random order. Every agonizing second that ticked by, she wondered why she was there, only to very quickly remind herself exactly why.
Eventually, the door jingled, and someone stepped in. They asked for a name, and the host led them over to the table Blazz sat impatiently at. She had her eye closed, quite intentionally. She didn’t want to open it until they were sitting down.
A sound of a chair moving, and something sitting down in it. Softly, someone cleared their throat. Blazz did not open her eye. They tried again, this time followed by something else.
“...Blazz?”
The scientist opened her eye in a snap, staring directly forward at the person sitting in front of her. An old woman, clearly into her late seventies. Old, grey, frail. One could easily mistake the woman for someone’s kindly old grandmother. But all Blazz saw in the face before her was a face she wanted desperately to destroy, more than anything else she had fought in the war for Mapleworld. She saw a face she loathed. A face she would never forget, whether she wanted to or not.
“...Hello, Mom.”
________
Blazz and her mother sat facing each other, in a silence that was less awkward and more extremely tense. Her mother cleared her throat and took in a deep breath.
“..I know.. you .. probably aren’t very happy to see me.”
That almost immediately sparked a chuckle from Blazz.
“Oh, what gave that away, I wonder.”
Her mother flinched, but continued trying to speak.
“..I’m.. not expecting you to be.. Happy, or.. Anything, really. I just..”
She fell silent. Blazz only narrowed her eyes at her.
“Get on with it.”
“..I.. What I mean to say.. Is.. I-I wanted to see you again-”
“Why.”
“I.. It .. Didn’t feel right.. Knowing that you were.. Still out there. And.. Oh, what am I saying…”
“You tell ME. You got any reason I shouldn’t just stand up and leave right now?”
“Please, just- hear me out.”
“That task is becoming exponentially more difficult with every passing second I hear your voice.”
“...I.. understand. But.. please. I didn’t.. Okay. Let me.. Try to start from the beginning. Your dad and I were released a few years ago, and.. We kind of.. Split apart. He and I just.. We couldn’t be around each other any longer. He filed for divorce, and I.. just happily accepted. He went his own way.. And.. I found out a few months afterwards that.. Well.. He died in a car accident. Driving intoxicated. And.. It just.. Struck me.”
“What struck you? How sad your lives were?”
“..Blazz, it struck me that you and Zoen-”
She was instantly cut off.
“Blizz.”
“...Wha-”
“His name. Is ‘Blizz’. You are going to call him by his name.”
Her mother looked sheepish.
“...I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”
“No, of course you didn’t know. He didn’t tell you. I didn’t tell you. Nobody told you. Probably because we didn’t want you to know.”
“..Yes, I.. I understand.”
“Good. Now, continue.”
Her mother cleared her throat again, and nervously continued.
“..It.. I realized that the two of you were probably still out there, and.. I was just.. Remembering.. All those childhood years you had. And.. I just.. I felt.. I felt disgusted by myself.”
“Oh, good. You should have.”
“..Y-yes.. I.. talked to a counselor, and told him.. I didn’t know what to do. Did I just let you go completely? Try to make up? I didn’t want my children to keep living their lives.. With that.. That thought that their parents never loved them.”
Blazz chuckled again, but she didn’t interrupt her, this time.
“...He.. said it was.. Far too late to try to.. I guess… reconnect. At least, not with the mindset of..”
She fell silent again, clearly trying her best to say the right thing in front of her daughter.
“..I.. just.. Want you to know. I’m.. sorry. I’m so.. So sorry for everything I did to you. I.. I treated you so poorly-”
“Understatement of the century.”
“-Yes, I.. I couldn’t live with myself just.. Not ever getting a chance to talk to you again, and.. Tell you that. I.. I know nothing I could say or do now could possibly make up for what.. Horrendous things I did to you. And- I-I know that.. The damage has been done.. But.. I just.. I had to say something. I couldn’t let it go without saying that.. I wish.. More than anything.. That I could take it all back. I just.. Wish I could do it all over. And.. prove to you that.. I really do love you. Too much to make you suffer like that.”
Blazz and her mother were both silent for a moment. Neither said anything, Blazz made no movement and betrayed no emotion behind her stoic mask of an expression.
“...So, let me get this straight. You’re here.. To apologize? To.. make up? What?”
“No- Well.. yes and no. I’m.. I’m here because I- I want to make it clear that I understand how badly I treated you. And.. I’m not looking for forgiveness. I just.. I want you to know that I’ve.. changed?”
“Changed? Oh, so you’ve CHANGED. Whoop-de-doo, look at that. All aboard the change-coaster! You must be THIS tall to ride!”
Blazz leaned back in her chair, throwing her head back in a cackle. The other guests at the restaurant took parting glances at the madwoman as she tried to regain her composure.
“Yeah, I’m sure you have changed. And I’m sure you’re not here looking for forgiveness. Good thing, too! Because that would have been a really, REALLY stupid thing to come looking for! I mean- HONESTLY.”
“..Blazz, please. I know you hate me, bu-”
Blazz interrupted, as eager as though she was preparing a response to this statement for years.
“HATE? Oh, that’s ANOTHER understatement in my ears! Hate feels way too weak to describe what exactly I feel about you. In fact, what DO I feel about you? That’s a damn good question! Let’s go through the list, yeah?”
“Blazz-”
“Let’s see, I hate you, I despise you, I want to kill you, I want to ruin your life, I want you to suffer, I want a LOT of things for you, honestly. Most of them are pretty negative! Oh, but- I guess I should also THANK you.”
“..Thank me? For what?”
“...You know, that’s ALSO a good question! What DO I have to thank you for? Well, let’s see. You brought me into this world under a blanket of suffering with a chiseled rock for a pillow. You ruined my life under every circumstance possible. You ripped me to pieces, and you tossed what was left of me into a garbage bag on the street and prayed the birds would pluck the flesh from my bones! You broke me like a pocket mirror, and then lost me behind the stairs and forgot about me, only ever being reminded of my existence to curse it every time a stray shard of glass reflected light into your eyes! You left me in the void to DIE, and whenever anyone tried to help me, you threatened to push them in with me! And- oh, I’ve been wanting to say this for a LONG time- You are probably also responsible for making me such an amazing person, in the end.”
“..What?”
Blazz set off on another cackle again, this time standing up and facing away. Her mother watched her with a nervous expression, unsure for both herself and her daughter. Blazz eventually whipped back around, both arms wide open.
“LOOK at me! I am AMAZING. I’m INCREDIBLE. I’m the most BRILLIANT person to ever grace the books of HISTORY! I spent ten years in college and earned over TWO DOZEN DEGREES in fields of science and mathematics, with nothing but my OWN MIND. I built, by HAND, SWEAT, and my OWN GENIUS, a machine that could provide energy INFINITELY, to THOUSANDS of acres of land at a time. I DEFIED THE LAWS OF PHYSICS. I created, piece by piece, defenses and weapons that could send immortal demons back to the fiery pits of hell they came from! I’ve been present for and saved countless lives during massive invasions of every major city, and I’ve single-handedly fought off entire LEGIONS of monsters! I’m the greatest hero Mapleworld has EVER seen, and I’m going to go even FURTHER than that. I’m going to be the greatest hero of all time. I’m going to change the world forever, because I have the ability to. Because I’m the greatest there ever was. All because of YOU.”
“..Because of me?”
“Ab-so-lutely! Would I really have had the potential to become so great if you HADN’T made my life a living hell? Would I have become so great if you HADN’T broken me apart so many times I couldn’t be fixed? How could I possibly have become as great as I am today without your loathing presence in my life? How could I have unlocked the potential of my mind if you never chained it up to begin with? In the end, should I really be thanking you?”
“I-”
“I think I should, but I think I shouldn’t either! I really can’t decide! I cannot decide! I worked myself and earned all of my achievements on my own, but how could I have earned them if you were never there to royally fffffffffffuck me up from the beginning?! That’s a damn good question, isn’t it?!”
“Blazz, please, you’re starting to scare me-”
She suddenly snapped her head in her mother’s direction, her demeanor taking a sudden, malicious turn, as though it was at the flick of a switch.
“GOOD. You SHOULD be scared. If you somehow AREN’T scared, then I will very swiftly FIX that! Because if you knew, if ONLY you knew what sick machinations I twisted around in my mind about you.. Just how long I’ve been hating you. Just how looooong I’ve been coming up with things to do to you. If only you knew just how much I wanted to make you suffer, the intricate ways to do it that I’d come up with and bounce around my head until it got sore. If you only knew just how much I wanted to burn you to ashes, and watch in utter glee as everything around you, including yourself, is slowly melted and ripped away from you, sputtering into flames and vaporizing, never to be seen or heard of again. If only you KNEW how gravely I craved your suffering, how much utter torment the mere existence of you, still out there in the world, caused me. If you knew any of THAT. You wouldn’t be scared. You would be terrified of me. Just like you were when I was just a little baby you could jerk around. That was the only reason you didn’t feel scared of me, then. Because you could control me. But as soon as you saw that control slipping, you panicked. You panicked, because you saw what I could do to you, and you tried to lock me away where I’d never be able to hurt you. But now, you can’t do that. And if you knew…”
Blazz had begun to lean in closer and closer to her mother’s face, both hands on the table, and her battle-scarred, burned, broken face continued to get nearer and nearer with a wide, maniacal grin spanning her cheeks.
“You would be screaming. You would be calling me the devil, trying everything you could to get me out of sight, just like you did before. You’d be frightened for your life, running in horror from the monster you created. You’re starting to get scared? I’m starting to scare you? Just now? You should have been terrified the moment you had the gall to step foot into the light of day again.”
“Listen, please- I- I don’t-”
“Don’t what? Don’t have anything to say, that’s what. You’ve got nothing to say. You never did. Everything you ever said was nothing. Nothing, but it meant everything. EVERYTHING. You know why? Because all of that NOTHING made me into EVERYTHING I am now. I bet you didn’t ever expect that you’d be building a ticking time bomb, with every little step you took. Every single thing you said, every little action you made. Just piece by piece, slotting wires and setting cogs into place. And you had no idea what kind of fallout was awaiting you, did you? Oh, but it’s waaaaaay too late to take it back. Once nuclear war begins, there’s no concluding it~”
“Blazz-”
The scientist was deaf to her mother’s pleas, as she simply continued to rant onward, growing more and more visibly unstable for every second she raged. The purple in her only eye seemed to be growing far more vibrant and violent, as though she herself was ready to explode in an unstoppable shockwave of torment and wrath, the sheer extent of her insanity finally on display for the world around her to see, igniting like a beacon through the night.
“It’s too late! It’s AAAAALL TOO LATE! You wanted to play with fire? This is how you get burned! By ME. I am the fire you were toying with, and I SPREAD! I went from a lonely little candle, begging for air, to an unstoppable BLAZE. I AM A WILDFIRE, SURROUNDED BY THE DEAD BRAMBLES OF WHAT USED TO BE YOUR WORLD! AND YOU WILL NEVER PUT ME OUT, NOT WITH AN OCEAN OF WATER OR AN ICE AGE OF FREEZING COLD! Fire is what I AM, now! And I will burn EVERYTHING you ever loved to ashes.”
“P-Please, I-”
Blazz swung her arms out again with an exasperated sigh.
“Please, please. Oh, mommy dearest, whatever do you PLEASE? That I stop? That I CHANGE? That I, oh, I don’t know, maybe NOT kill you? Maybe not let all of this insane pressure that’s been building up in me let loose!? You canNOT contain growing pressure forever, mom! Sooner or later, it’s going to EXPLODE, and it’s going to explode VIOLENTLY! I should know, I MAJORED IN THE SCIENCE OF IT. Speaking of which, let’s get back onto topic with that! That’s one thing I can thank you for! So, in conclusion..”
She dropped back down into her seat again and folded her hands, then closed her eye as she took a deep breath. The entire cafe was staring at her now, as she opened her eye again and glared at her pale-white mother directly in both of her own.
“Thank you for everything, mother dearest. And simultaneously, thank you for nothing at all. Your apology has been acknowledged, and it’s fucking hilarious. Now then, since we’ve gotten all that settled, I’d like you to do something for me.”
“..Wh-”
Blazz’s tone suddenly shifted from a maniacal chatter to a lethally serious, and threatening tone.
“Stand up.”
Her mother immediately stood up, shivering in her place. Blazz didn’t follow her with her eye. She continued to glare directly forward at the chair she had sat in. Her smile was long gone, replaced with a foreboding emotionlessness. An expression that poorly facaded untold malice, wrath, hatred.
“You see those front doors, you walked in from?”
“..I’ll go-”
“No, don’t just go. You listen to what I’m about to tell you, mother.”
She was silent again, intently listening to her daughter’s instructions.
“You’re going to walk out those front doors, and you’re going to be out of sight before I can count to ten. Once you’re out of sight, you’re going to keep running. Get in a cab, take a plane, do anything to get as far away from me as geography allows. Once you have reached the most remote parts of the world, where you belong, you will STAY there. And you will pray to every deity in this forsaken planet to protect you, because GODDESS SMITE ME ALIVE, IF I FIND YOU AGAIN.”
She turned her head to face her mother one last time.
“There will be nothing remaining. Not. Even. Ashes.”
And with that, her mother turned and sprinted out of the cafe as quickly as she could, nearly slipping as she reached the door and yanked it open. A nearby waiter, who had stopped to watch the confrontation, was knocked out of the way in her hurry out the door. She was gone down the street within several seconds, and exactly ten seconds after she had started moving, Blazz stood up and whipped out an energy pistol from her jacket- pointing it directly at the door. Upon no visual of her mother, the weapon died down, eventually ceasing its activity completely. The cafe goers had all ducked and covered, prepared for impact, by the time Blazz slipped the weapon back into her jacket again. She turned and sat down at the table, staring forward at the chair her mother was sitting in moments prior.
At no sound of impact, the cafe goers slowly resumed their activities, trying desperately to mind their own business- when a loud, thundering electric shockwave sounded out the area, knocking many of the items off people’s tables. The chair Blazz’s mother had been sitting in was vaporized, reduced to atoms by Blazz’s energy pistol.
As the weapon died down, she slipped it back into her pocket and dug through it again. Without hesitation, she turned to the nearest waiter- who was taking cover behind the bar- and dropped several large coins on the counter in front of him.
“Here, that should be enough mesos to cover repairs and replacements. Have a good one, pal, and give me a call if you ever need any demolition, repairs, heck, any kind of science-y work around here. Could give you guys a serious upgrade in just about everything. Best in the business, y’know~”
The one-eyed mad scientist stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled out the door again, whistling a chipper tune to herself as she did. Leaving wreckage in her wake, as usual.
An electronic bleep caught her attention, and a holographic screen appeared in front of her. A woman, dressed sharply and with significant dignity, glared the dive bomber in the face.
“For the love of the goddess, Blazz! Pull up before you become nothing but a smoldering crater! You’re travelling far beyond the speed of sound at exactly 0 degrees straight downward!”
Blazz only grinned as she suddenly swept her feet downward, and the rocket boosters cut out for merely a split second before activating again, shifting her momentum drastically from vertical to horizontal. She went rocketing forward, parallel to the ground, before she dropped again and let her feet point downward as the thrusters provided a more controlled burst. She came to a screeching halt on the ground, leaving a long trail of char and ash in the bright green grass behind her. She stood upright with a wide, maniacal grin on her face, and with a simple grip from over her shoulder, she hoisted a massive handheld cannon. With the appearance of a minigun, the weapon’s hextuple barrels clanked into gear and rotated shortly, like someone revving a car engine or a chainsaw for dramatic effect. The weapon was needlessly complicated, covered in unmarked levers and buttons, screens, gauges, and the like. Yet, Blazz seemed to know exactly which control did what, as she flicked three levers back and pressed a button, and the machine responded with a metallic clank and a satisfying beep. The six barrels suddenly extended outwards, and a much larger central barrel telescoped its way through the center. The barrels retracted, leaving the single cannon barrel extended and prepared to fire.
Blazz herself had changed significantly. Her face was lined with burn marks, battle scars, and slight discolorations from the woman’s many experiences. Her hair, tied into long twin ponytails, was now a very silvery grey, despite her generally young age of 40. It had gotten even more grey than before. Most notable was her eye- or rather, the lack of one. Her left eye was covered by a black medical eyepatch, firmly attached to her head as though it had not moved in quite a long time. Still, her tough boots, jacket, and jeans remained, as well as her short red ‘hero’ cape. This time, though, she came equipped with a rather durable pair of work gloves, clearly expecting to experience some hard work.
The holographic screen appeared in front of her again, projected seemingly by something she wore on her jacket. A small, electronic pin, of sorts.
“Good Goddess, Blazz. You shouldn’t be so reckless in a time of peril. You are here for a reason.”
The pyromaniac only cackled and hoisted her massive cannon up, almost effortlessly leaning the gargantuan gun over her shoulder.
“Oh please, Veliche. You should have a bit more faith in the girl with every degree of science and many years of experience testing and learning every nook and cranny of physics, and by proxy, thermodynamics!”
“Veliche?”
“Oh, fine. I’m sorry, ‘cap’. So, what’s your opinion about the new holo-contact pins? Spent like, three days making these prototypes.”
“Yes, they work very efficiently, Blazz. However, I do not think we have the resources for mass production of these during wartime.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve already got that figured out. I can make hundreds of these things using my own funding-”
“Sergeant Blazz, as much as I would appreciate this discussion about improving our communications technology, you are here for a reason. I suggest you move forward with it.”
“Well, I would, if the rest of my squad was here.”
And not soon afterwards, a ‘sortie’, one of the personnel transports of the flying fortress Blazz had fallen from, came floating down and landed beside her. Out hopped a variety of soldiers, including a familiar assistant to the pyromaniac. Aisha saluted her boss and hopped over to her side.
“Ah, good to have you on the ground, Aisha! Finally. What took you guys so long?”
“The pilot was trying not to kill us all on impact.”
“Pff, didn’t stop me.”
The captain on the holographic comms cleared her throat.
“I hope the presence of your assistant doesn’t distract you from your mission, Blazz. We only respected this request because you insisted that you’d need her.”
“Oh, trust me! I will need her! I know very well what I’m doing, you can count on that.”
“Very well, then. You have your briefing, contact me over the holo-pin when you have found what you are looking for.”
“Ah, so you really like the idea of these things, eh?”
“Get on with it, Sergeant.”
The comms shut, and Blazz merely chuckled. She glanced back at the soldiers and her assistant, swinging the cannon over into both of her hands again as she nodded behind her.
“Well, come on. Lapenshard ain’t gonna find itself.”
Several hours later, after trekking through the deep, corrupted thicket of the shadow-infected land, the group decided to take a break, having found no sign of what they were looking for. Banding together in a small circle, the soldiers took turns keeping a lookout for monsters that infested the land, while Blazz sat down with Aisha, inspecting a holographic map projection that the scientist had set up. Her massive cannon laid barrel-up, as she leaned on it with her elbow.
“-And that should be the center then, right?”
“...Seems so, boss. Is that where we’re going, then?”
“Sure is. Can’t be anywhere else around here. See? Told you my tech was amazing.”
“It sure is, boss! Though, why couldn’t you get these readings earlier?”
“You understand how powerful these shards are, right? They give off so much pure energy that at further distances, it becomes muddled with other energy networks and grids. They’re so attuned to flowing smoothly that they basically mix themselves with other electron flows, so without getting closer to the source, we can’t actually well define its exact location. But don’t worry- I’ve already got a project set aside for fixing THAT, too!”
“Wow! Already? Boss, you’re on top of things as always!”
“Heh, I know I am, Aisha! So-”
Both were cut off when a light beeping tone was heard from Aisha’s pocket. They glanced down in tandem as she pulled a phone from her pocket. One glance to her boss, and a shrug from Blazz, and she answered it.
“...Yello? Uh- Oh! He...y? Wait, what- Slow down. One at a time. Okay..”
Blazz squinted with her single eye, curious but not quite tempted enough to barge in.
“...Uh.. okay. Why call me, though-? ..Oh. Okay. Uh, thanks. I’ll let her know.”
Aisha hung up, and glanced over at Blazz with a nervous grin. Her boss only raised her eyebrow, adding to her unamused expression.
“..So uh.. Boss.”
“You gonna break it to me in a way that makes me angry or one that makes me way too curious for my own good?”
“I don’t- really think you’re gonna like it.”
“The former, then.”
“Well, uh.. How can I put this.”
“Just say it as it is, Aisha. I hate it when people try to ‘explain it better’. Just say it and save us both the tro-”
“Your mother wants to meet with you.”
There were several beats of silence as Blazz just stared at Aisha, completely blank. Not a word was exchanged, not a glint of expression from the pyromaniac. Some of the soldiers glanced back at her, some confused, some beginning to panic. Eventually, Blazz blinked, and shook her head.
“...Care to repeat that?”
“Your.. uh.. Mother wants to meet with-”
“I heard you the first time.”
“Oh, but- you said-”
“I know what I said. I want you to shut up for a second, okay?”
“..Okay-”
“SHH.”
Blazz shut her eye and stood up, leaning on her cannon. The various soldiers and Aisha both looked on, very obviously disturbed and concerned not just for Blazz, but also for themselves. After a few seconds, she opened her eye again, staring at Aisha with an obviously forced ‘relaxed smile’.
“...SO. Where does she… want to meet?”
“...Uh, boss?”
“Yeys?”
“...Uh… Tria’s.. Coffee & Crumb Cafe.”
Another beat of silence as Blazz just stared wordlessly at her uncomfortable assistant.
“...Sounds.. Like a date! Why don’t you.. See to it that she knows I’ll see her there.”
“Are you- sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, why would I be sure? Surest I’ve ever been in my life! COULDN’T BE MORE SURE! HAHA! THE ONE PERSON ALIVE IN MY LIFE WHO I WISH MORE THAN ANYTHING I COULD.. —WANTING TO HAVE A NICE CHAT OVER LUNCH?! WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH THIS?!”
Aisha put a hand out and placed it on Blazz’s shoulder as she began to whip wildly around, in order to stop her boss from devolving into further madness.
“..You know, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Blazz took a deep breath and closed her single eye, attempting regaining control of herself. She let the breath out, then turned and glanced Aisha in the eyes.
“Oh, I do want to.”
___
The shadow-infested land was scorched that day, a trail blazed through it by an overwhelming wall of fire, fueled by wrath and spite. The pyromaniac left as she came- shredding everything in her path and leaving nothing but destruction in her wake. What remained was burned to ashes, lingering flames of hatred licking at what little still stood after the scorching rain.
___
Blazz had been waiting for fifteen minutes prior to the meeting time arranged, sitting down at one of the cafe’s tables in the middle of the dining room. The cafe was moderately busy, with most of the tables seating one to two people. Everyone seemed to be having a jolly time. Except for the pyromaniac, who sat at her table with a sucker in her mouth. Every second, she tapped a different finger on the table, in a seemingly random order. Every agonizing second that ticked by, she wondered why she was there, only to very quickly remind herself exactly why.
Eventually, the door jingled, and someone stepped in. They asked for a name, and the host led them over to the table Blazz sat impatiently at. She had her eye closed, quite intentionally. She didn’t want to open it until they were sitting down.
A sound of a chair moving, and something sitting down in it. Softly, someone cleared their throat. Blazz did not open her eye. They tried again, this time followed by something else.
“...Blazz?”
The scientist opened her eye in a snap, staring directly forward at the person sitting in front of her. An old woman, clearly into her late seventies. Old, grey, frail. One could easily mistake the woman for someone’s kindly old grandmother. But all Blazz saw in the face before her was a face she wanted desperately to destroy, more than anything else she had fought in the war for Mapleworld. She saw a face she loathed. A face she would never forget, whether she wanted to or not.
“...Hello, Mom.”
________
Blazz and her mother sat facing each other, in a silence that was less awkward and more extremely tense. Her mother cleared her throat and took in a deep breath.
“..I know.. you .. probably aren’t very happy to see me.”
That almost immediately sparked a chuckle from Blazz.
“Oh, what gave that away, I wonder.”
Her mother flinched, but continued trying to speak.
“..I’m.. not expecting you to be.. Happy, or.. Anything, really. I just..”
She fell silent. Blazz only narrowed her eyes at her.
“Get on with it.”
“..I.. What I mean to say.. Is.. I-I wanted to see you again-”
“Why.”
“I.. It .. Didn’t feel right.. Knowing that you were.. Still out there. And.. Oh, what am I saying…”
“You tell ME. You got any reason I shouldn’t just stand up and leave right now?”
“Please, just- hear me out.”
“That task is becoming exponentially more difficult with every passing second I hear your voice.”
“...I.. understand. But.. please. I didn’t.. Okay. Let me.. Try to start from the beginning. Your dad and I were released a few years ago, and.. We kind of.. Split apart. He and I just.. We couldn’t be around each other any longer. He filed for divorce, and I.. just happily accepted. He went his own way.. And.. I found out a few months afterwards that.. Well.. He died in a car accident. Driving intoxicated. And.. It just.. Struck me.”
“What struck you? How sad your lives were?”
“..Blazz, it struck me that you and Zoen-”
She was instantly cut off.
“Blizz.”
“...Wha-”
“His name. Is ‘Blizz’. You are going to call him by his name.”
Her mother looked sheepish.
“...I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”
“No, of course you didn’t know. He didn’t tell you. I didn’t tell you. Nobody told you. Probably because we didn’t want you to know.”
“..Yes, I.. I understand.”
“Good. Now, continue.”
Her mother cleared her throat again, and nervously continued.
“..It.. I realized that the two of you were probably still out there, and.. I was just.. Remembering.. All those childhood years you had. And.. I just.. I felt.. I felt disgusted by myself.”
“Oh, good. You should have.”
“..Y-yes.. I.. talked to a counselor, and told him.. I didn’t know what to do. Did I just let you go completely? Try to make up? I didn’t want my children to keep living their lives.. With that.. That thought that their parents never loved them.”
Blazz chuckled again, but she didn’t interrupt her, this time.
“...He.. said it was.. Far too late to try to.. I guess… reconnect. At least, not with the mindset of..”
She fell silent again, clearly trying her best to say the right thing in front of her daughter.
“..I.. just.. Want you to know. I’m.. sorry. I’m so.. So sorry for everything I did to you. I.. I treated you so poorly-”
“Understatement of the century.”
“-Yes, I.. I couldn’t live with myself just.. Not ever getting a chance to talk to you again, and.. Tell you that. I.. I know nothing I could say or do now could possibly make up for what.. Horrendous things I did to you. And- I-I know that.. The damage has been done.. But.. I just.. I had to say something. I couldn’t let it go without saying that.. I wish.. More than anything.. That I could take it all back. I just.. Wish I could do it all over. And.. prove to you that.. I really do love you. Too much to make you suffer like that.”
Blazz and her mother were both silent for a moment. Neither said anything, Blazz made no movement and betrayed no emotion behind her stoic mask of an expression.
“...So, let me get this straight. You’re here.. To apologize? To.. make up? What?”
“No- Well.. yes and no. I’m.. I’m here because I- I want to make it clear that I understand how badly I treated you. And.. I’m not looking for forgiveness. I just.. I want you to know that I’ve.. changed?”
“Changed? Oh, so you’ve CHANGED. Whoop-de-doo, look at that. All aboard the change-coaster! You must be THIS tall to ride!”
Blazz leaned back in her chair, throwing her head back in a cackle. The other guests at the restaurant took parting glances at the madwoman as she tried to regain her composure.
“Yeah, I’m sure you have changed. And I’m sure you’re not here looking for forgiveness. Good thing, too! Because that would have been a really, REALLY stupid thing to come looking for! I mean- HONESTLY.”
“..Blazz, please. I know you hate me, bu-”
Blazz interrupted, as eager as though she was preparing a response to this statement for years.
“HATE? Oh, that’s ANOTHER understatement in my ears! Hate feels way too weak to describe what exactly I feel about you. In fact, what DO I feel about you? That’s a damn good question! Let’s go through the list, yeah?”
“Blazz-”
“Let’s see, I hate you, I despise you, I want to kill you, I want to ruin your life, I want you to suffer, I want a LOT of things for you, honestly. Most of them are pretty negative! Oh, but- I guess I should also THANK you.”
“..Thank me? For what?”
“...You know, that’s ALSO a good question! What DO I have to thank you for? Well, let’s see. You brought me into this world under a blanket of suffering with a chiseled rock for a pillow. You ruined my life under every circumstance possible. You ripped me to pieces, and you tossed what was left of me into a garbage bag on the street and prayed the birds would pluck the flesh from my bones! You broke me like a pocket mirror, and then lost me behind the stairs and forgot about me, only ever being reminded of my existence to curse it every time a stray shard of glass reflected light into your eyes! You left me in the void to DIE, and whenever anyone tried to help me, you threatened to push them in with me! And- oh, I’ve been wanting to say this for a LONG time- You are probably also responsible for making me such an amazing person, in the end.”
“..What?”
Blazz set off on another cackle again, this time standing up and facing away. Her mother watched her with a nervous expression, unsure for both herself and her daughter. Blazz eventually whipped back around, both arms wide open.
“LOOK at me! I am AMAZING. I’m INCREDIBLE. I’m the most BRILLIANT person to ever grace the books of HISTORY! I spent ten years in college and earned over TWO DOZEN DEGREES in fields of science and mathematics, with nothing but my OWN MIND. I built, by HAND, SWEAT, and my OWN GENIUS, a machine that could provide energy INFINITELY, to THOUSANDS of acres of land at a time. I DEFIED THE LAWS OF PHYSICS. I created, piece by piece, defenses and weapons that could send immortal demons back to the fiery pits of hell they came from! I’ve been present for and saved countless lives during massive invasions of every major city, and I’ve single-handedly fought off entire LEGIONS of monsters! I’m the greatest hero Mapleworld has EVER seen, and I’m going to go even FURTHER than that. I’m going to be the greatest hero of all time. I’m going to change the world forever, because I have the ability to. Because I’m the greatest there ever was. All because of YOU.”
“..Because of me?”
“Ab-so-lutely! Would I really have had the potential to become so great if you HADN’T made my life a living hell? Would I have become so great if you HADN’T broken me apart so many times I couldn’t be fixed? How could I possibly have become as great as I am today without your loathing presence in my life? How could I have unlocked the potential of my mind if you never chained it up to begin with? In the end, should I really be thanking you?”
“I-”
“I think I should, but I think I shouldn’t either! I really can’t decide! I cannot decide! I worked myself and earned all of my achievements on my own, but how could I have earned them if you were never there to royally fffffffffffuck me up from the beginning?! That’s a damn good question, isn’t it?!”
“Blazz, please, you’re starting to scare me-”
She suddenly snapped her head in her mother’s direction, her demeanor taking a sudden, malicious turn, as though it was at the flick of a switch.
“GOOD. You SHOULD be scared. If you somehow AREN’T scared, then I will very swiftly FIX that! Because if you knew, if ONLY you knew what sick machinations I twisted around in my mind about you.. Just how long I’ve been hating you. Just how looooong I’ve been coming up with things to do to you. If only you knew just how much I wanted to make you suffer, the intricate ways to do it that I’d come up with and bounce around my head until it got sore. If you only knew just how much I wanted to burn you to ashes, and watch in utter glee as everything around you, including yourself, is slowly melted and ripped away from you, sputtering into flames and vaporizing, never to be seen or heard of again. If only you KNEW how gravely I craved your suffering, how much utter torment the mere existence of you, still out there in the world, caused me. If you knew any of THAT. You wouldn’t be scared. You would be terrified of me. Just like you were when I was just a little baby you could jerk around. That was the only reason you didn’t feel scared of me, then. Because you could control me. But as soon as you saw that control slipping, you panicked. You panicked, because you saw what I could do to you, and you tried to lock me away where I’d never be able to hurt you. But now, you can’t do that. And if you knew…”
Blazz had begun to lean in closer and closer to her mother’s face, both hands on the table, and her battle-scarred, burned, broken face continued to get nearer and nearer with a wide, maniacal grin spanning her cheeks.
“You would be screaming. You would be calling me the devil, trying everything you could to get me out of sight, just like you did before. You’d be frightened for your life, running in horror from the monster you created. You’re starting to get scared? I’m starting to scare you? Just now? You should have been terrified the moment you had the gall to step foot into the light of day again.”
“Listen, please- I- I don’t-”
“Don’t what? Don’t have anything to say, that’s what. You’ve got nothing to say. You never did. Everything you ever said was nothing. Nothing, but it meant everything. EVERYTHING. You know why? Because all of that NOTHING made me into EVERYTHING I am now. I bet you didn’t ever expect that you’d be building a ticking time bomb, with every little step you took. Every single thing you said, every little action you made. Just piece by piece, slotting wires and setting cogs into place. And you had no idea what kind of fallout was awaiting you, did you? Oh, but it’s waaaaaay too late to take it back. Once nuclear war begins, there’s no concluding it~”
“Blazz-”
The scientist was deaf to her mother’s pleas, as she simply continued to rant onward, growing more and more visibly unstable for every second she raged. The purple in her only eye seemed to be growing far more vibrant and violent, as though she herself was ready to explode in an unstoppable shockwave of torment and wrath, the sheer extent of her insanity finally on display for the world around her to see, igniting like a beacon through the night.
“It’s too late! It’s AAAAALL TOO LATE! You wanted to play with fire? This is how you get burned! By ME. I am the fire you were toying with, and I SPREAD! I went from a lonely little candle, begging for air, to an unstoppable BLAZE. I AM A WILDFIRE, SURROUNDED BY THE DEAD BRAMBLES OF WHAT USED TO BE YOUR WORLD! AND YOU WILL NEVER PUT ME OUT, NOT WITH AN OCEAN OF WATER OR AN ICE AGE OF FREEZING COLD! Fire is what I AM, now! And I will burn EVERYTHING you ever loved to ashes.”
“P-Please, I-”
Blazz swung her arms out again with an exasperated sigh.
“Please, please. Oh, mommy dearest, whatever do you PLEASE? That I stop? That I CHANGE? That I, oh, I don’t know, maybe NOT kill you? Maybe not let all of this insane pressure that’s been building up in me let loose!? You canNOT contain growing pressure forever, mom! Sooner or later, it’s going to EXPLODE, and it’s going to explode VIOLENTLY! I should know, I MAJORED IN THE SCIENCE OF IT. Speaking of which, let’s get back onto topic with that! That’s one thing I can thank you for! So, in conclusion..”
She dropped back down into her seat again and folded her hands, then closed her eye as she took a deep breath. The entire cafe was staring at her now, as she opened her eye again and glared at her pale-white mother directly in both of her own.
“Thank you for everything, mother dearest. And simultaneously, thank you for nothing at all. Your apology has been acknowledged, and it’s fucking hilarious. Now then, since we’ve gotten all that settled, I’d like you to do something for me.”
“..Wh-”
Blazz’s tone suddenly shifted from a maniacal chatter to a lethally serious, and threatening tone.
“Stand up.”
Her mother immediately stood up, shivering in her place. Blazz didn’t follow her with her eye. She continued to glare directly forward at the chair she had sat in. Her smile was long gone, replaced with a foreboding emotionlessness. An expression that poorly facaded untold malice, wrath, hatred.
“You see those front doors, you walked in from?”
“..I’ll go-”
“No, don’t just go. You listen to what I’m about to tell you, mother.”
She was silent again, intently listening to her daughter’s instructions.
“You’re going to walk out those front doors, and you’re going to be out of sight before I can count to ten. Once you’re out of sight, you’re going to keep running. Get in a cab, take a plane, do anything to get as far away from me as geography allows. Once you have reached the most remote parts of the world, where you belong, you will STAY there. And you will pray to every deity in this forsaken planet to protect you, because GODDESS SMITE ME ALIVE, IF I FIND YOU AGAIN.”
She turned her head to face her mother one last time.
“There will be nothing remaining. Not. Even. Ashes.”
And with that, her mother turned and sprinted out of the cafe as quickly as she could, nearly slipping as she reached the door and yanked it open. A nearby waiter, who had stopped to watch the confrontation, was knocked out of the way in her hurry out the door. She was gone down the street within several seconds, and exactly ten seconds after she had started moving, Blazz stood up and whipped out an energy pistol from her jacket- pointing it directly at the door. Upon no visual of her mother, the weapon died down, eventually ceasing its activity completely. The cafe goers had all ducked and covered, prepared for impact, by the time Blazz slipped the weapon back into her jacket again. She turned and sat down at the table, staring forward at the chair her mother was sitting in moments prior.
At no sound of impact, the cafe goers slowly resumed their activities, trying desperately to mind their own business- when a loud, thundering electric shockwave sounded out the area, knocking many of the items off people’s tables. The chair Blazz’s mother had been sitting in was vaporized, reduced to atoms by Blazz’s energy pistol.
As the weapon died down, she slipped it back into her pocket and dug through it again. Without hesitation, she turned to the nearest waiter- who was taking cover behind the bar- and dropped several large coins on the counter in front of him.
“Here, that should be enough mesos to cover repairs and replacements. Have a good one, pal, and give me a call if you ever need any demolition, repairs, heck, any kind of science-y work around here. Could give you guys a serious upgrade in just about everything. Best in the business, y’know~”
The one-eyed mad scientist stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled out the door again, whistling a chipper tune to herself as she did. Leaving wreckage in her wake, as usual.
