Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 43: Lights...

The star team at Thorn Pictures were reinvigorated. Their leader was back in control now, she had complete focus on the goal at hand. They would finish Bloodshed and it would be utterly amazing. Blaze had practiced like mad with Shadow and their fellow actors to make sure everything was on point. Thanks to Honey, Blaze finally had that spark inside her that allowed her to connect with what Angela was feeling. At the hospital, anger and hopelessness had consumed her and Blaze had felt empty. It occurred to her then that Honey had probably been experiencing that for many years. But she was gone now and while Blaze did miss her, the atmosphere at the studios did seem a lot brighter.

Shadow was also really wonderful. He was attentive, kind, funny, loving and everything Blaze could've ever wanted. Sonic also didn't seem to mind the change from Honey to herself and she was glad. Blaze liked Sonic, he was extremely loveable and Amy had become something of a sister to her over the last few months. Up until the massacre, they hadn't really interacted but now that they had, it turned out that the pair had a lot in common. Amy was really sweet and helpful in increasing Blaze's acting ability and gave her little hints on what her mother was expecting from a certain scene. Her recent relationship change with Shadow made the more romantic scenes towards the end a lot easier.

Yet as the name suggested, Bloodshed wasn't a romantic film. Far from it. It was an apocalyptic disaster with a lot of deaths. It was actually quite sad but Blaze knew it would have even more emotion packed into it after post-production. The name originated from the ending where the deadly virus came from. A shed high up on a hill, in a desolate landscape surrounded by killer robots. The only way to eradicated the virus was to shed blood of a true heart over it. While it would not reserve the deaths done by the virus or the blood spilled by the robots, this little bit of bloodshed would stop more from occuring. It was actually quite an ingenious plotline that Athena had done a wonderful job of scripting out. Blaze was extremely impressed and the type of costumes and looks Petal and her created for the characters were amazing.

Branch also helped tremendously with the fighting sequences. Halfway through, Shadow's character gets kidnapped and Angela has to rescue him before they can administer the virus. For it was created to destroy all life to free the planet from destruction and start anew. Any fully organic human was to be killed by any means necessary to get this plan to work. The thing was, Angela wasn't fully organic. As an infant, she had needed a lot of medical attention and so some of her insides were robotic to keep her alive and functioning. There was a scene where more... explosive rebels, shall we say, send out an electromagnetic signal that shuts down all electrical devices. Robots, toasters, lights, her life support. Shadow's character then had to keep her alive for over an hour until the power comes back. The point was, Angela owed him her life, he gets captured and nearly killed, she rescues him doing some really cool fighting and the pair are even.

Branch turned out to be quite good company as well. Whilst they were training, he would tell her stories of goblins, ghosts and fairies to pass the time. Blaze found herself enjoying the stories that held a deeper meaning but caught in a parry and uppercut, she couldn't always decipher them. Branch didn't expect her to though so it was fine. He was a little bit lonely though, with Honey now gone, but the finish line was in sight and gave them all the boost they had needed. Now, they were just quite simply days away from finishing the final scenes. These scenes required the pair to make to the desolate, country hill, past the killer robots, into the shed, find the virus origins, spill Angela's blood over it and watch it eradicate.

Blaze had worried at first that they would actually cut her hand and spill blood over the prop but Petal, Sarah and Beauty all assured her that would not be the case. The would get her to film moving the knife close to her skin, then cut and add the wound using make-up and add the blood drops afterwards. She would be perfectly unharmed. That made her feel more comfortable at least but she still had to move the knife near her skin and she could get shaky hands under pressure. Branch also informed her that if she wasn't comfortable then they could get a stunt double to do it. Blaze liked her stunt double, Lavender, tremendously. She could sound a bit stuck-up at times but she was excellent at what she did. The stunts she performed looked really cool and Blaze felt a little jealous that she herself wouldn't be performing them.

So she practised, Blaze wanted to be in as many scenes as possible. Shadow was also very kind and helped her. Honey had clearly taught him a few tricks during the course of their relationship and he taught her how to balance the blade properly. "There you go." He cheered as she managed to move the knife near her hand without injury. A series of small cuts and plasters adorned her hand but when Athena came to check on them; she informed her that they could be hidden. Blaze smiled at Shadow as she handed the knife back. "Anything else you need to practise?" She laughed as he yawned.

"You're tired." She observed with a smile.

He glanced at her. "I bet you are as well. We've been working practically nonstop these last few days. I swear, for all the amount of personal distress I've gone through I should get eighty percent of the entire profit. I'm also retiring after this." Blaze shook her head at him as he pulled her into a hug.

Sonic popped up beside them. "Why are you retiring?" He jumped as the couple also jumped and shouted.

"For the love of racing, Sonic!" Shadow growled. "What did you do that for?!" Blaze took a few deep breaths to calm her pounding heart.

His brother looked afronted. "Sorr-ee. Didn't mean to scare you. Honestly, I'm more afraid of you then you are of me." He crossed his arms with a frown.

Blaze sighed and opened her arms up for a hug. Sonic complied with a smile. "You're not a spider, sweetie. Or a wasp, or any insect of any kind. But don't creep up on people. It's not nice." She heard him mutter a more muted but sincere apology against her. "That's okay." Blaze looked over to Shadow who rolled his eyes. "No one's retiring, Shadow and I are both just tired from making this film. We need a break!" Sonic untangled himself from her and stared at them.

"You do look very tired." He conceded, clearly forgiving them for frightening him. "Amy is also very tired. She keeps falling asleep on my lap!" Sonic looked utterly distraught and Shadow patted him on the back.

Blaze frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't get it. Why is it such a bad thing if Amy falls asleep on your lap?"

Sonic sighed in frustration. "Because then, I can't move!" Blaze continued to frown. "Shadow, she doesn't get it. Explain it to her!" He stamped his foot in higher frustration.

Shadow shushed him. "Okay, relax!" He turned to Blaze with a worn smile. "Our Dad told us that if a lover ever falls asleep on us then we are forbidden from waking them. Sonic's distress comes from the fact that he has ants in his pants and an incredibly weak bladder." He dodged as Sonic tried to hit him.

Blaze laughed as she watched them. "Well I think that's very sweet." She stepped between the pair to prevent any injuries. "Come on, we need to get back on set if we're ever going to finish this film." Blaze didn't have the strength Honey possessed to pick a fifteen-year-old male up so instead Sonic had gotten use to either wrapping himself around her waist or clinging tightly to her hands. Much to Shadow's annoyance, Blaze really liked it. It was very sweet.

So off they went, Shadow with one arm around her and Sonic holding her hand, to complete the final scenes of Bloodshed, Blaze's first project.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, on time. I liked how the team is all coming together now and helping one another. I'll hopefully update again tomorrow but I have creative writing club tomorrow and a few more exams until Wednesday. Adiós.