Series 4

Chapter 1

November 10th, 90 days after war was declared over Wood Oak City by the Lima nations.

Today is a Sunday, the best day of the week.

The suburbs of Wood Oak City this morning are quiet and dormant, it is as if a war never existed. Most of the damage from the war has hit Central District, Wood Oak City hard with air raids and bombs however during the last month since a peace treaty between the Lima nations, the situation has been under control but is still very fragile.

Axel's dojo just outside of the city was temporary closed when the war broke out but luckily the damages to the building were not severe and were easily repaired over the last month.

The calm silence is gratifying as Axel wakes up in his bed. Not even the sound of a single aircraft can be heard for miles and the outside neighbourhood is as quiet as it gets at 8am on a Sunday morning.

"Nice of you to stay the night, I counted that as the 4th time this week" he grins as Blaze opens her eyes next to him.

Blaze: "You'd better be on your guard then" she replies as she reaches for her spare key on the bedside table next to him.

Axel: "Just don't go changing the place too much" he says before he kisses her.

Blaze: "hmmm, I can't promise anything!" she glances over towards the stack of video games lying around on the floor.

Blaze: "Hey don't you have to open the dojo this morning?"

Axel: "It's closed today".

Blaze: "Really? Why?" she asks, puzzled.

Axel smiles: "Come with me, I got a surprise for you".

Five minutes later and they're both quickly dressed and out of the door towards the gym and dojo building situated within a five minutes' walk from Axel's house.

Blaze: "What's going on?" she asks inquisitively as they reach the entrance when he unlocks the shutters and the door.

Axel: "You'll see, close your eyes". She follows his lead as he takes her hand and guides her into the building through the main dojo and gym.

Blaze: "ok seriously now I wanna know!"

Axel: "Keep your eyes closed, don't open them until I say ok?"

They stop when she hears a light switch flicker.

Axel: "ok, you can open them now".

Her breath is taken away as Blaze sees a beautiful brand new dance studio before her with clean pinewood floors, shiny new mirrors that fill up the walls as well as a ballet bar on one side, state of the art sound system and a shelf high up containing many of Blaze's old trophies. She is speechless and in awe of it all.

Axel: "So? What do you think?"

Blaze: "Oh wow, this is, wow this is so amazing… thank you" she smiles.

Axel: "I meant what I said, what's mine is yours and I wanna build a future with you. I know this has been a dream of yours for a long time to have your own studio plus it works perfectly next to the dojo".

Blaze: "I love you" she says with seriousness. This happy moment feels like it could last forever as her words echo around them.

#Explosion#

The sound of the heavy sirens jolts Blaze awake. She suddenly realises she is no longer dreaming as her lungs fill with smoke from the air around her. All she can see right now is darkness and crashed rubble as she struggles to stand up. The shelter she is staying in had at least 40 people there last night, mostly families with their children that she had rescued from the dangerous streets outside.

As Blaze coughs and struggles to walk with a bleeding leg, she looks down at the ground and tries to make sense of all of the bodies surrounding her. The ringing in her ears makes it impossible to hear anyone who could be shouting for help as everyone around her appears to be dead.

"Come on we have to get out of here, more troops are coming!" The first person she sees running towards her is Adam who takes her hand as they run towards the nearest exit that is not blocked off. On the way out he shoots an officer who tries to stop them. Everything slows down as they just about make it safely to Adam's police car.

Adam looks down at her from the driver's seat whilst they get away as Blaze lays down at the back of the car.

Adam: "stay with me, I'm gonna get you to a doctor at right away. You'll be ok!"

Blaze: "What happened?" her hearing and orientation starts to return slowly.

Adam: "those mother fuckers hit the building next to yours! I'm taking you back to base".

Blaze: "Wait we have to go back, more people are inside".

Adam: "You were the only one who survived, I scanned the whole building using the drone. It was crazy you had this green energy aura surrounding you when you were laying on the floor breathing. I think your own chi saved you from the explosion".

Blaze's eyes start to tear up as she remembers the others who were in the building with her that never made it out.

Adam: "I'm sorry Blaze".

Blaze: "What day is it today?"

Adam: "It's Sunday"

Sunday is the last word she remembers before her eyes shut again.

The first thing that Blaze notices when she wakes up is the large clock on the wall in the centre of ten hospital beds. Around her lie several injured police officers, most of which have permanent injuries.

With effort, she gets up from her bed and immediately changes into her WOPD uniform. Two days after the war started, the police force reinstated Blaze as they became desperate for her help. Adam and Tim are now leading a team of police officers to clean up the streets from the gangs who are carving up territory whilst the police also have to defend the city from Lima's officers who successfully made it to invade Wood Oak. Many of the soldiers like Axel are still fighting on Lima's territory but they are now battling in a losing war.

11:20pm to be exact. Adam is either downstairs briefing the thirty or so officers they have left or he is on night patrol. As Blaze reaches the downstairs part of their hidden confinement, she spots Adam briefing ten other officers who are about to go outside on their night patrol.

When Adam finishes he approaches her.

Adam: "Hey, how are you feeling?"

Blaze: "Better. Why aren't I on the night patrol list?"

Adam: "I've placed you off duty over the next three days, you need to rest that wound" he glances down at her right bandaged leg.

Blaze: "I'm ok, you know I can still fight, your team need me".

Adam: "No, you're going back to bed, that's an order".

Blaze: "What use is that huh? Me doing nothing? I don't think so".

Adam: "You and I know we need you out there but not like this".

Blaze: "You know I can still solve all of this. All I have to do is announce to the Lima nation who I am. I'm ready to fight the three Yamato warriors left for their territory who control Lima. When I defeat them, I'll take General Petrov's place and then I can put an end to this war".

Adam: "How can you even convince the people of Lima to back you up without being killed? Just because you were related to Petrov doesn't mean you're entitled to his role".

Blaze: "When I kill the Yamato, the people of Lima will follow me"

Adam: "The risk is too great".

Blaze: "I can do this I've been telling you for months".

Adam: "No Blaze, you and I both know the real reason why you'd drop all your duties here to travel to Lima."

Blaze: "Axel needs me, what if he's in trouble? We've heard nothing for weeks now!"

Adam: "He wouldn't want you to pursue this".

Blaze: "He needs us. Every day the soldiers they sent there are dying in their hundreds. I'm not giving up on him".

Adam: "If you leave Wood Oak City, you'll be disobeying your orders and there are consequences for it".

Blaze shakes her head: "No. Tim and Clark want to keep me here and use me as ransom against the Lima nations as insurance. The niece of General Petrov, the fact that I have power capable of destroying their enemies. I'm too valuable to Wood Oak City right now so they're holding me here can't you see that?"

Adam sighs. "Ok, I'll show you where it's clear tomorrow night, but on one condition".

Blaze: "Anything".

Adam: "This shit could blow up in our faces any day now when we'll lose this war. I need you to go to this address and find Keri and the kids to make sure they're safe. Take them with you and protect them if the city goes down. I'm bound to remain here right now."

Blaze: "Ok, you have my word"

Adam: "And I wont have your back next time!"

Blaze: "I understand. Meet me by the front gate tomorrow at 10".

Updates (in case you missed the previous three books - Beginnings; Rebirth; Path of a heroine)

At the end of the last book, a war was declared over Wood Oak's territories by the Lima Nations in retaliation to the death of General Petrov, who was shot by Electra's fighters during a hostage exchange with Tim Murphy's wife.

As a result, Axel Stone has been sent to fight in a war zone whilst Adam and Blaze have remained stationed in Wood Oak City as acting police officers to protect any civilians.

Meanwhile Leon Shiva is still on the run after turning in Mr X to the authorities however no body is aware that Mr X is still alive after Wood Oak Police Department shot down who they thought was Mr X but was a decoy called Robot X.

Dr Zan has also distanced himself from the rest of the team after Blaze discovered he was the original founder of corporation RoboCy, who were taking innocent civilians against their own free will to do experiments to convert them into cyborgs to work for the syndicate.

As it stands, Neo Chaos still have control of the streets even though Wood Oak City is now a warzone, no where is safe.

Blaze managed to destroy most of the power that the syndicate stored from her chi after they captured her. This power would have been the source of several Rakushin bombs capable of wiping out Wood Oak City. One barrel of this stored enemy still remains after Mr X delivered it to the Yamato warriors. If it is not found, it will be cause destruction.

Although the authorities believe Mr X to be dead, he has used all of his power and influence behind the scenes to orchestrate a war between Wood Oak City and the Lima Nations.