Unknown Society

Memories to Ashes

The memory of the fire brought Martinez back in time.

Valarie woke up to the smell of smoke, heavy smoke that filled her lungs. Everything around her was crashing down, collapsing with embers following. Valarie's eyes were watering and it was hard to see. The smoke may have taken her vision, but the voices of her friends crying out loud were enough for her to find a way to get herself together. She manages to run her eyes and adjust her vision, the strong heat from the flames and the bright colors of the roaring fire began to grow stronger. "What happened?" Valarie frowned, "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's just fine," Jack said, he was carrying Purple on his shoulders as she had passed out, "just follow us. We know a way outta here!" He jumps over a burning crate and disappears into the flames, so does Bene.

Valarie was about to follow, but the abrupt cries of Pixel's voice became louder than the crackling fire. She whips her head around, only hearing the whipping of the flames and glass shattering. In front of her was a shelf she could climb on top of and scan the area. But once a burning plank of wood fell in front of her, she became frightened, fleeing from the flames.

"You call yourself a hero after that fateful night?" Sandy laughs, "So gullible and foolish. What would Pixel say?"

Martinez was dead silent. She loved Pixel like a sister, so why did she leave her in that fire? It was a question not even Martinez herself could answer, leaving her to pity in her thoughts.

"And here you are thinking that you could stop me," Sandy kept going, walking up to her, "I thought you were better than this, Martinez. Turns out, you're still that same little girl who feared everything and everyone. How can anyone forgive what you've done?" Sandy abruptly snatches Martinez's dagger and stabs her in the stomach. Sandy then rasped, "Hell is where people like you belong."

Martinez had felt very faint and dizzy, and she was brought to her knees. Blood began to trickle down her chin, and she eventually closes her eyes.

Martinez once again found herself in a world with clouds all around and a blue sky. The light from a distance blinded her a bit, but upon closer inspection, Pixel walked towards her. Martinez hadn't felt more ashamed than ever, so much so that she couldn't bear to even look at her. "I'm sorry..." she managed to say through a broken voice.

Pixel lifts Martinez's head. "It's okay, Valarie. I'm always going to forgive you, even though what you've done could've been prevented."

Martinez hugs Pixel, tighter than before. "I don't deserve to be your friend, after everything I've done..."

Pixel stroked her back, "Listen Valarie, you've done everything you could to better yourself, and I helped you with that. You saved someone's life, rescued your friends, and even made allies. You have done more than I can ever be proud of. That's amazing, Valarie. You came a long way from being small and afraid to being big and fearless. That was my goal for you, and you made it." She looks at Martinez with a smile, "We can play again, Valarie. Come on." She walks towards two tall gates.

Martinez's first instinct was to follow her, but she stopped herself. "But what about everyone else? Aren't they—" she was quick to realize something. Martinez looked behind her, glancing at her body from below. Sure, she wanted to see her best friend again, but what about her other friends? What about the children she swore to take care of? "Pixel, I don't know if I want to do this." She finally says.

Pixel stops and turns around. "What do you mean? Don't you want to be together again?"

"I do, but this isn't what I wanted," Martinez sighs, "I still have friends who look up to me, two lucky boys who call me their mother, and many more souls to teach. I can't leave them, not like this. I have to go back." She looks at Pixel once more, "I'm sorry, but maybe another time?"

Instead of frowning, Pixel grinned. "I knew you'd make the right choice, Valarie." She hugs her tightly, whispering softly, "Before you go, I just want to say that I'm proud of you Valarie. And I hope to see you again."

Martinez shed a few tears before letting go of her paw. She turned around, slowly walking back to the world below. Before she took one final step, she waved goodbye to her friend.

Martinez's eyes opened, and her eyes narrowed. By then, Sandy had her back turned to her. Martinez slowly stood up, pulling the dagger out of her stomach and letting it drop to the floor. She held her stomach, grunting quietly as she stood. Sandy turns around slowly, immediately whipping her whole body around once she saw Martinez standing. "Impossible!" Sandy gasped, "I stabbed you in your stomach! You should've bled out!"

Martinez looked at her with determination gleaming in her eyes. "I guess luck was on my side." She coughs.

Sandy angrily whips her tail again, growling, "You won't be so lucky when I do the same, but to your pitiful heart." She charges at her.

Martinez wasn't prepared for the sudden attack, but she knew what to do. The first thing Sandy did was swing her staff, hoping to hit Martinez hard enough to stun her. Martinez grabbed it before it reached her forehead, using all of her strength to hold it in place. Sandy was strong, but not as strong as Martinez. The staff, not being able to handle the weight, began to bend slightly. Martinez noticed this before Sandy, and she managed to break the staff, the neck near the sharp end, and turned the blade on Sandy. Martinez slashed Sandy's cheek and part of her ear.

Sandy, distracted by the excruciating pain, dropped the other end of the staff and held her bleeding ear.

BOOM!

Martinez jumps at the loud sound, looking above Sandy. A large tube of liquid had exploded, causing a great shake inside the headquarters. The concrete walls began to crack and collapse, boulders and rocks crashing down like a violent thunderstorm. It was a good thing Martinez had drunken the Power Potion beforehand, because she would've died. There was still a droplet or two left in the bottle, but she wanted to wait for the most paramount of moments.

Although there was dust from the stone that fell and boulders blocking a pathway to safety, Sandy knew a way out, and she took that chance. Martinez was left to once again figure out a way of safety on her own. It had only been months leading up to this moment, but she got out of her comfort zone and made allies, friends, and started her own little family. Not once did these people ever let her do things on her own, offering a paw to help or an ear to listen to. At last, Martinez was finally able to feel a sense of safety, security, and belonging. Those years wasted of grieving and being alone finally went away, and it was time to start anew.

Martinez looked around frantically as more heavy rocks landed by her. Sandy's tail had vanished, but Martinez was able to catch a glimpse of it before it disappeared. She hopped onto a jagged stone, her claws sliding down, but later catching themselves before Martinez could even fall. Martinez used all of her strength to lift herself up, her claws clinging onto the jagged boulder for dear life as she climbed up. Soon, she managed to lift her head up to see a bright light ahead of her.

Sandy abruptly landed in front of her, piercing two daggers into Martinez's paws. Martinez roared, Sandy locking her bloodshot, malevolent eyes with hers. "You should have learned to give up when you had the chance, Martinez." Sandy smirked.

Martinez was powerless again, but she had another trick up her sleeve. Again, she didn't know if she'd get the chance to execute it before the headquarters crashed down on her.

Unbeknownst to Sandy, a totem pole standing on the edge of a mountain of rocks was toppled over by the quivering of the collapsing building. It rolled down, crashing against rocks, but didn't stop until it landed on Sandy, crushing her. The shake after the totem pole landed on the merciless maniac made the daggers on Martinez's paws jump out and flee. But this didn't help Martinez, she rolled back down, sharp ends of rocks whacking her back and stabbing her shoulder.

She eventually landed on the ground with great force; her ears were ringing and her vision was blurry. A blurry image of a bottle with blue liquid inside stood in front of her. She reaches it and grabs the tip, but everything else went black as the headquarters made its final battle cry before collapsing to the ground.

All that was left was a thick cloud of dust with everyone outside of the headquarters apprehensively looking at each other.