Shadows Lingering//A Glaze AU//Sequel to 'A Superhero's Heart'

10

Blaze's back slammed into the ground as Laurance flipped him over his shoulder. He groaned as he sat up and looked up to see the brunette frowning down at him. They both hadn't addressed the elephant in the room and neither of them want to.

"Blaze, your attention is wavering. You need to focus on your opponent,", Their trainer said from the other side of the room.

Blaze took a deep breath before he got to his feet. He turned to the trainer and said; "Sorry Lucinda. There's just a lot of things on my mind right now."

"I understand but, from what I've heard, you both need to be on high alert,", Lucinda pressed on, placing her hands on her hips. Her orange hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and her red-ruby eyes looked more concerned than anything. Even though she was slightly older than the two men, she thought of them as good friends. If anything were to happen to them, she would blame herself. "Until those bruise marks on your neck disappear, I'm not going to let this go Blaze. Same goes to you Laurance. You might've beaten Blaze but, your form wasn't perfect either."

"Yes ma'am,", Laurance simply said, walking towards the benches on the side to grab his water-bottle. He was really upset about the whole situation. Maybe not in the same way as Blaze but, enough to cause Lucinda to make a mental note to talk to him later.

"Thanks Lucinda,", Blaze said, a small smile on his face, "for trying to keep our minds off of everything."

"It's my job,", She insisted, walking up to him placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now, there's towels and water on the benches over there. Clean up and get hydrated. I'm sure Elizabeth will want you two to do something."

"Doubt it,", Blaze mumbled, shrugging her hand off as he walked to the benches as well. "She dismissed me last week. What could I possibly do now?"

Laurance and Lucinda looked to each other, knowing he wasn't completely wrong. "Bud, I'm sure she'll have you do something to help. With everything you found out, there's plenty now to do,", Laurance encouraged, trying to keep his old friend's confidence high. "If she dismisses you she's an idiot."

"Heh, thanks Laurance,", Blaze smirked, appreciating the jab at Washer. "But, Elizabeth knows that if I get involved, I might cause more trouble than I can fix."

"So now you agree with her?", Lucinda questioned, now confused.

"Let's just say I can see where she's coming from but, I could probably do something outside of the base. At least for now,", Blaze explained, taking a gulp of water, swing a towel over his shoulder. "What do you think they're talking about in there?"

"Plans, I assume,", Laurance shrugged. "Shadow is now going to be the S.T.F's number one focus for a while and I won't argue. He's severely dangerous..."

He trailed off, drinking some more water. He sat on the bench silently as the two waited for more but, it never came. Blaze never really talked about Shadow with Laurance. He wanted to but, it was a touchy subject. He couldn't imagine what he went through back in sophomore year. Lucinda sort of knew but, she still couldn't piece it all together. She's tried for years to complete the mental puzzle of someone under Shadow's control but, it was proven to be difficult for her. She was going to ask for more detail, gently of course but, a voice came over the intercom.

"Lucinda Jewels,", A man's voice boomed. "Agent Washer needs you in her office as soon possible."

Immediately after, Lucinda's watch received a notification of a email. She scrolled through it and her eyes widened. Blaze asked; "What is it?"

"They...They want me to help Garroth build some mental strategies to try and help him remain calm. Similar to you two..."

Laurance smiled and said; "That's sounds like a good start...why do you seem worried?"