The taxi came to a screeching halt in the visitor lot of the Mordem institution. The doors opened, and a familiar, former patient stepped out. Dressed in a dark blue suede winter jacket covered in buckles and zippers, a pair of thick work jeans, and heavy rubber boots, the pyromaniac had long since found her sense of style. Of course, she herself certainly looked worse for wear. Only 38 years old, her hair had gone completely silver- much sooner than it should have. Her hands were covered in scars from burns, scratches, and the like. And finally, after forty years, she had donned a red cape. A red cape, with a grey letter B spray-painted across it.
She had been through many adventures, many years of work, to get to where she was now. And here she was, visiting home after so many years.
Not half a second after she stepped out of the taxi, the door on the other side popped open, and someone else hopped out behind her. A much younger, energetic girl.
“Hey, boss? Why are we at an asylum?”
Blazz merely glanced back at her with half a head turn, giving her a cockeyed smirk.
“It’s been a year. Figured I’d stop by my old place and see how it was doing.”
“..Huh? Did you spend time here, boss?”
“Not just ‘some time’, Aisha. I was here my entire life before Uni. You could even say it’s my childhood home!”
“..An asylum is your childhood home? That’s.. so cool! Who else out there can say something as awesome as that?”
“Eeeexactly, my dear assistant! Who else can say they grew up in the asylum, and came out one of the greatest minds this generation? Or, heck, in history!”
“Only you, boss! So, why are we visiting? Just an old memory trip?”
“Well, yes. That, and also something else. Now, c’mon. I wanna show you something.”
The two passed on through into the facility, keeping to the visitor’s section. Blazz stepped along until she reached a pair of double doors- and pushed her way right on through despite the fact that they led into the facility where visitors weren’t allowed. She didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, this place was her old house. She knew exactly where she was going, anyway.
It wasn’t long before they came across the old fireproofed cell Blazz had spent so long in. There were no new patients that were commissioned in it at the time. Blazz motioned towards it, specifically to the mirror on the wall.
“You see that mirror? I looked at myself in that mirror every day for seventeen years. I slept in that bed, I stared across this hallway, and I used that sink.”
“...Woah.. this is the room where you grew up?”
“It sure is. I bet none of those picture-perfect professors back in Taliskar State have a backstory like THAT!”
“You’re right as always, boss!”
“You bet I am. Now, come on. I wanted to show you this room, but I had a different reason to be here.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah. Hup-two, Aisha.”
Blazz started off, and her assistant scampered over to catch up to her. Once again, Blazz seemed to know exactly where she was going, as she maneuvered her way back through the visitor’s section, and out of the facility again. She walked along the perimeter, eventually coming to a stop near a large concrete pillar with a lit gas torch on top of it. A memorial, with a plaque placed at the bottom of it. Blazz just stood there and stared at it, without saying a word, her eyes locked on the torch. Aisha glanced down at the plaque and inspected it.
“..’In memory of Nurse Don Kasseldor, who brightened up the troubled lives of countless patients of this institution. May your flame burn brightly for all to see, and find comfort and encouragement in’. Boss? Who’s this?”
“This was the reason I turned out so well. Don was with me every day I was here, helping me. Just talking to me, sometimes. Caring about me, making sure I was okay. He was there to see me to my cell on the first day, and he was there to see me off on my last. I never would have been the same without him. Not even slightly.”
“..Oh. He sounds like he was... amazing.”
“He was, Aisha. He was my dad. My real one.”
Blazz was unusually quiet, at speaking that sentence.
“..Are you okay, Boss?”
“I’m just fine, Aisha. I wanted to show you this, because every year, on his birthday, I come out here to visit this. I want you to know where I came from, and who helped me become as great as I am today. Don is one of those people. He meant the world to me, and by proxy, he should mean the world to you.”
“Right. I understand.”
“Good.”
Blazz rooted through her pocket, and pulled out a lighter. The same lighter she had held on to for more than twenty years. Her most prized possession, more than everything she had built, and everything she had earned. Silently, she flicked the lighter and ignited it, then put the flame to the torch memorial. With her other hand, she shut off the torch’s gas valve, snuffing it out. And then she opened it again, and the torch lit once more. Aisha watched this process, somewhat confused.
“..Boss? What are you doing?”
“About five years ago, before he died, I told Don I’d commission a memorial for him. I had just graduated from Taliskar State, with all of my degrees. I wanted to credit all of it to him. He said it wasn’t necessary, but I insisted. Told him I’d make it a torch, and every year I’d visit and re-light it with his lighter in his honor. He said it wasn’t necessary, but I wasn’t going to back down. I had this memorial built right here about a year later, a month after he died. And exactly as I promised- every year, on his birthday, I come to this memorial and relight it with this lighter. The same lighter he gave to me.”
She glanced over at her assistant with a confident, comforting grin.
“It’s important that everyone remembers where they came from, and what made them so great. I’m an amazing engineer with incredible achievements, and I’m one of the greatest geniuses to ever grace this world with her presence, but I will never forget the person who helped me get here. As long as I live, I’m never going to stop thanking him. Because without him, I never would have been anything. Without Don, I never would have been great. It’s imperative that you remember the same, Aisha. Never forget the people that made you great, when you inevitably become as great as me!”
Aisha sniffed, and gave her boss an energetic salute.
“I-I won’t, boss! As long as I live, I’ll never forget you!”
“Well, you’d certainly pray you don’t, or you’ll be in for a rude awakening!”
Blazz let out a hearty cackle, with Aisha joining her shortly after. The two of them eventually glanced back at the memorial, and after Blazz spent one last moment with it, they turned around and made their way back to the taxi they rode in on. The large, somewhat foreboding structure of the Mordem institution may have been intimidating to some, but to these two, it was comforting. To Blazz, it was a place she would never forget, even as she went on to accomplish greater things. Even as she earned two dozen degrees in sciences, developed a revolutionary kind of energy production, and found herself involved with a worldwide war for dominance, Blazz would never forget where she came from, and who she was fighting for. Her friends, her colleagues, her allies, and those she knew from Mordem who had tragically passed long ago.
The fire in her heart would never die out, even long after her time in the world came to a close. The fire in her soul would continue to light up the world, even after she was far past her blazing glory. The fire of her mind would never be equaled with such eccentric enthusiasm, even after everything she had mastered had become far obsolete. The mad scientist’s impact on the world would go further than simply saving it. She would change it, leaving her mark on it just as a wildfire devastates, then rejuvenates an entire forest. Blazz was the crucible that would melt down the world to its components, only so it could be reconstructed far better than it was before.
The world would recover from war, but it would never recover from her.
She had been through many adventures, many years of work, to get to where she was now. And here she was, visiting home after so many years.
Not half a second after she stepped out of the taxi, the door on the other side popped open, and someone else hopped out behind her. A much younger, energetic girl.
“Hey, boss? Why are we at an asylum?”
Blazz merely glanced back at her with half a head turn, giving her a cockeyed smirk.
“It’s been a year. Figured I’d stop by my old place and see how it was doing.”
“..Huh? Did you spend time here, boss?”
“Not just ‘some time’, Aisha. I was here my entire life before Uni. You could even say it’s my childhood home!”
“..An asylum is your childhood home? That’s.. so cool! Who else out there can say something as awesome as that?”
“Eeeexactly, my dear assistant! Who else can say they grew up in the asylum, and came out one of the greatest minds this generation? Or, heck, in history!”
“Only you, boss! So, why are we visiting? Just an old memory trip?”
“Well, yes. That, and also something else. Now, c’mon. I wanna show you something.”
The two passed on through into the facility, keeping to the visitor’s section. Blazz stepped along until she reached a pair of double doors- and pushed her way right on through despite the fact that they led into the facility where visitors weren’t allowed. She didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, this place was her old house. She knew exactly where she was going, anyway.
It wasn’t long before they came across the old fireproofed cell Blazz had spent so long in. There were no new patients that were commissioned in it at the time. Blazz motioned towards it, specifically to the mirror on the wall.
“You see that mirror? I looked at myself in that mirror every day for seventeen years. I slept in that bed, I stared across this hallway, and I used that sink.”
“...Woah.. this is the room where you grew up?”
“It sure is. I bet none of those picture-perfect professors back in Taliskar State have a backstory like THAT!”
“You’re right as always, boss!”
“You bet I am. Now, come on. I wanted to show you this room, but I had a different reason to be here.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah. Hup-two, Aisha.”
Blazz started off, and her assistant scampered over to catch up to her. Once again, Blazz seemed to know exactly where she was going, as she maneuvered her way back through the visitor’s section, and out of the facility again. She walked along the perimeter, eventually coming to a stop near a large concrete pillar with a lit gas torch on top of it. A memorial, with a plaque placed at the bottom of it. Blazz just stood there and stared at it, without saying a word, her eyes locked on the torch. Aisha glanced down at the plaque and inspected it.
“..’In memory of Nurse Don Kasseldor, who brightened up the troubled lives of countless patients of this institution. May your flame burn brightly for all to see, and find comfort and encouragement in’. Boss? Who’s this?”
“This was the reason I turned out so well. Don was with me every day I was here, helping me. Just talking to me, sometimes. Caring about me, making sure I was okay. He was there to see me to my cell on the first day, and he was there to see me off on my last. I never would have been the same without him. Not even slightly.”
“..Oh. He sounds like he was... amazing.”
“He was, Aisha. He was my dad. My real one.”
Blazz was unusually quiet, at speaking that sentence.
“..Are you okay, Boss?”
“I’m just fine, Aisha. I wanted to show you this, because every year, on his birthday, I come out here to visit this. I want you to know where I came from, and who helped me become as great as I am today. Don is one of those people. He meant the world to me, and by proxy, he should mean the world to you.”
“Right. I understand.”
“Good.”
Blazz rooted through her pocket, and pulled out a lighter. The same lighter she had held on to for more than twenty years. Her most prized possession, more than everything she had built, and everything she had earned. Silently, she flicked the lighter and ignited it, then put the flame to the torch memorial. With her other hand, she shut off the torch’s gas valve, snuffing it out. And then she opened it again, and the torch lit once more. Aisha watched this process, somewhat confused.
“..Boss? What are you doing?”
“About five years ago, before he died, I told Don I’d commission a memorial for him. I had just graduated from Taliskar State, with all of my degrees. I wanted to credit all of it to him. He said it wasn’t necessary, but I insisted. Told him I’d make it a torch, and every year I’d visit and re-light it with his lighter in his honor. He said it wasn’t necessary, but I wasn’t going to back down. I had this memorial built right here about a year later, a month after he died. And exactly as I promised- every year, on his birthday, I come to this memorial and relight it with this lighter. The same lighter he gave to me.”
She glanced over at her assistant with a confident, comforting grin.
“It’s important that everyone remembers where they came from, and what made them so great. I’m an amazing engineer with incredible achievements, and I’m one of the greatest geniuses to ever grace this world with her presence, but I will never forget the person who helped me get here. As long as I live, I’m never going to stop thanking him. Because without him, I never would have been anything. Without Don, I never would have been great. It’s imperative that you remember the same, Aisha. Never forget the people that made you great, when you inevitably become as great as me!”
Aisha sniffed, and gave her boss an energetic salute.
“I-I won’t, boss! As long as I live, I’ll never forget you!”
“Well, you’d certainly pray you don’t, or you’ll be in for a rude awakening!”
Blazz let out a hearty cackle, with Aisha joining her shortly after. The two of them eventually glanced back at the memorial, and after Blazz spent one last moment with it, they turned around and made their way back to the taxi they rode in on. The large, somewhat foreboding structure of the Mordem institution may have been intimidating to some, but to these two, it was comforting. To Blazz, it was a place she would never forget, even as she went on to accomplish greater things. Even as she earned two dozen degrees in sciences, developed a revolutionary kind of energy production, and found herself involved with a worldwide war for dominance, Blazz would never forget where she came from, and who she was fighting for. Her friends, her colleagues, her allies, and those she knew from Mordem who had tragically passed long ago.
The fire in her heart would never die out, even long after her time in the world came to a close. The fire in her soul would continue to light up the world, even after she was far past her blazing glory. The fire of her mind would never be equaled with such eccentric enthusiasm, even after everything she had mastered had become far obsolete. The mad scientist’s impact on the world would go further than simply saving it. She would change it, leaving her mark on it just as a wildfire devastates, then rejuvenates an entire forest. Blazz was the crucible that would melt down the world to its components, only so it could be reconstructed far better than it was before.
The world would recover from war, but it would never recover from her.