Chapter 25
Saturday morning.
Millions of people wake up to tune in to watch an early news bulletin for Wood Oak's citizens.
"We are receiving breaking news reports which are urging the citizens of this city to stay home tonight as more violence is expected to escalate later on. This follows similar parallels to the chaos that went on at Central District's concert hall earlier this week when over 150 citizens were killed or went missing following a strange, unexplained outbreak. We can go live now to our reporter, Lauren Murphy who is outside of the remains of that concert hall, what can you tell us?"
Lauren stands amongst the rubble in a smart grey pencil skirt, blue shirt and dark coat as she holds her microphone under an umbrella.
"It seems that our city is under attack once more and we expect that officials will urge people to stay at home tonight. As you are aware, much is still unexplained about the incident earlier this week. What we do know is that the large group partying at the concert hall turned on each other and for no known reason. They began attacking and killing one another. Similar events also occurred almost nine years ago at Wood Oak's main Hospital, Airport and Subway station. What we do understand is that citizens are now being advised to drink and use bottled water only as there are fears of contamination in the city's water supply" she reports.
"Am I right in thinking that there is no official curfew yet for tonight? I think if there is, we will see panic amongst the streets".
Lauren continues "no, there is not an official curfew imposed yet but we are expecting the Police Commissioner to make a statement in the next half an hour or so".
"Some protesters are calling these isolated incidents a hoax, what have you heard on the streets so far this morning?"
Lauren sighs "well, given the experiences that Wood Oak City has faced over the past 20 years, it's important not to take anything for granted. The police and media are investigating these reports of large crowds killing one another and…"
"I'm sorry to cut you off, we have a Senior Police Officer right now on standby…" the reporter in the studio interrupts. "Officer Ferrocio, what do you make of the current rumours and situation since the start of the week? Are the citizens of Wood Oak safe to go about their daily business tonight or not?" She queries.
The first thing Ferrocio does is smile calmly into the camera outside of his precinct. "What you are hearing is just a rumour. We have inspected our streets, the water supply and I can assure you that everything appears to be normal. Of course every Saturday night there are dangerous criminals out there we try to stop, so it is important to be cautious. Monday night's tragedy at the concert hall occured due to a gas leak and explosion that we are still looking into. So all I can say is…"
Lauren tries to interrupt as the news bulletin screen splits into three sections.
"Officer Ferrocio, one moment please" the reporter in the studio cuts him off.
Lauren takes the opportunity to reply to him. "Sir, with all due respect, my own father used to be the acting Commissioner of this city's police force. He would have said the exact opposite to you. Until we have concrete evidence that our water is safe and until we understand exactly what happened on Monday night, just like 9 years ago, which your officers have still failed to explain, people really do need to keep themselves safe tonight…."
"Lady, we can't force people to stay indoors! Like I said, we are asking people of this city to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to us, but there is no need to become concerned at this moment in time. Your father, Officer Murphy did great things for this city but you remember how his career ended don't you?" He callously barks back.
Before an argument escalates, the reporter quickly cuts the two of them off.
"We will be returning to this story developing in due course but for now, let's see what today's weather is like…".
Lauren takes out her earpiece then abruptly chucks it on the ground, feeling pissed off with the outcome of that interview. "I can't believe a Senior officer would say that!? These photos right here are proof that something is about to go down!" She shows her colleagues several photos of the underground speakers and poison contaminating the sewage system.
"Where did you get those?" Her manager replies.
"Let's just say I have friends already defending this city. Would you excuse me?" She says as she reaches for her cell phone which is ringing.
"Sammy Hunter! I'm surprised you still remember my number after all these years" Lauren answers with sarcasm.
"I just saw your report on TV. That shitface Feroccio is working for the Y-Twins, they've now taken over Central District's police precinct. I need a favour…"
"I stopped doing you favours a long time ago," she abruptly replies.
"It's not for me, it's for the city. Spread the word, people need to stay at home and lock their doors. Switch off any TV or radio also. Those pictures that Estel sent you, they've now gone viral to warn people." Sammy explains.
"Is that all you got to say to me?"
"Oh, and be careful!"
"Too bad, I've got that big fight tonight I'm reporting on which is going to be displayed all over this city from Y-Tower" Lauren grins.
"Listen, we need to stop all transmission from Y-Tower tonight! They're using sound waves to influence people".
"So why is the fight still going ahead then? You'd think Max and Axel would have more sense than that!" She frowns.
"Do you remember Leon, Axel's kid?"
"Yeah of course,"
"Well, the syndicate has him. They're threatening to kill him if Axel or Blaze doesn't fight…"
"Blaze?! I thought she was dead?!" Lauren queries surprised.
"Look, I gotta go. I'll explain later, just see if you can spread the work and avoid going to Y-Tower tonight!"
"But…" just as Lauren starts her sentence, Sammy hangs up the phone.
She shakes her head, conflicted and confused about what to do next.
"I hate rats! We should have been the ones going to the precinct instead!" Blaze complains. She has climbed half way up the wall of the large underground tunnel using the speakers so that she can destroy the ones towards the top of it.
"How's it going up there?" Floyd asks from the ground.
"It's fine, I'd say there's less biodiversity up here than where you're standing!" She says, noticing three rats running past his feet on the ground.
Floyd, Blaze, Axel and Shiva have so far successfully destroyed the majority of the speakers they have found.
"Err gorgeous, don't look to your left right now!" Axel shouts up at Blaze.
"What? Why?" She shrugs. Of course she ignores him to find out what is going on.
"Aaaaah!" Blaze screams when she takes a look, noticing half a dozen large rats running out of one of the vents diagonally above the speaker she is holding onto. She almost falls after panicking, where they are about a metre away from her.
"Stay still" he replies.
"Have you seen the size of them?! I can just about handle one but there's like 10 up here!" She shouts, squinting with fear.
"If you stay still they won't bite you…" Shiva replies.
"There's only 5, it's nothing compared to what I've seen over there…" Floyd comments.
"You're not helping!" Blaze shouts at them with irritation in her voice. Suddenly a large fireball flies past her which hits the top of the speaker to her left then the rats perish.
"Thanks handsome!" Blaze smiles at Axel with relief on her face.
"Wait, look! Can you see that?" Floyd points up towards the broken vent that Axel hit which appears to be full of cables hanging out of it.
"That vent up there leads somewhere, perhaps those cables you've found are connected to the source of the music they'll use. If we destroy them, we might not have to get through these thousands of speakers." Shiva explains.
"I'd take a look, but those speakers up there won't hold my weight" Floyd replies as the three guys stare up at Blaze from the platform below.
"Are you really suggesting that I go into that vent, knowing exactly what just came out of there?" She worriedly asks.
"No, just use your power to explode those cables and the speakers around it" Floyd shouts from 20 feet below.
"Ok…" Blaze quickly climbs a little higher towards the top of the tunnel. Once she is next to the vent, she projects several energy orbs inside it which violently spark the cables.
She then quickly lets go of the speaker and jumps down. She heavily lands next to Axel who stops her from falling off the platform they are standing on as the entire tunnel trembles from the exploding cables above. Finally it emits a plume of fire 20 feet above them.
"You ok?" Axel asks her.
"I'm good!" Blaze smiles.
"Yes! You did it! The main connections from the source to those speakers appear to be broken. Looks like your fear of rats worked out for us after all…" Floyd happily says. "If we can find more of these vents, we're guaranteed to destroy this place in no time!"
"Watch out!" Shiva alerts as several speakers fall from the walls above down into the poisonous stream below them. Following this, more debris and masses of live rats then leap out of the holes in the wall left from the fallen speakers.
"Shit…! Can we get out of here now?" Blaze asks, panic grabbing onto Axel.
"You wouldn't survive 10 minutes in the wilderness would you?" He shakes his head amused.
"Probably not if there are rats like that!"
"Oh, they are worse out there. Plus the snakes, bears, crocodiles, barracudas…"
"Say no more, you're never going back there again as long as I'm around!" Blaze orders as the four of them continue through the rest of the tunnel.
"What the hell happened to this place?" Estel shakes her head with disappointment after their side of the team defeated the Commissioner in a violent fight. Adam drags the weakened henched man up off the ground by his collar.
"You and your officers are a fucking disgrace! Instead of protecting this city, they're all over the place killing prisoners as well as normal people on the streets!" Adam snarls.
"I told you, our officers work for the Y-Twins now! If you have a problem with that, take it up with them!" The Commissioner smirks.
Adam has now heard enough so he slams his fist into the man's skull which immediately knocks him out cold.
"Do you think they're acting like this because of the music?" Estel queries.
"No. The corrupted officers in this joint have always been hungry for money. That's one thing this Y-Syndicate has in common with the old one. But if you and Cherry wish to go further in this fight, I'd strongly suggest the two of you take Zan's advice" Adam replies, holding up a needle with a yellow star on the handle.
"I know the doctor said this is a modified version that we won't have to rely on forever but I'm still not putting that shit in my body!" Estel argues.
"What are you gonna do then when they play that music? You can't necessarily rely on your
ear plugs. And these powers, they'll make a difference to your fight".
"If I need any special assistance, I can call for backup!" Estel angrily dismisses him, folding her arms.
"Hey dad, I've cleared all of the other offices downstairs! Ain't a single fed left standing!" Cherry proudly grins as she joins them, taking out her earphones.
"That's my girl!" Adam smirks. "How's that new modified guitar of yours?"
"It's lit! I still have enough rakushin and power stored for later I can use plus when we regroup with Floyd he'l add some more!" She enthusiastically replies.
"Great! Seems like you and Estel here got everything under control then" Adam shrugs in a mood before walking off.
"What's wrong with him?" Cherry frowns at Estel.
"Your father just dislikes being proved wrong," she huffs.
"Don't worry, he's really just like a big kid. And probably he wants to hook up with you" Cherry casually answers, leaving Estel flustered and speechless.
"What is it now?!" Mr Y angrily answers the phone. He steps out of an unmarked car with blacked out windows which has just pulled over with a view of Wood Oak City in the distance.
"Sir, my fighters reported several explosions underground earlier on today. It's going to take weeks to replace and reinstall all of the speakers that were damaged!" Raven briefs him on the other side of the line.
"How did this happen?" Mr Y pinches the top of his nose, feeling exasperated.
"They managed to kill off our fighters underground. Plus our police precinct has been attacked and destroyed too".
"We wanted a war, so we've got it! Order everyone else around the city to remain on standby! Tonight's big fight will still be televised so we can still get our sound waves transmissioned across the city, providing nothing at Y-Tower gets destroyed. My sister is already there waiting for us. For now, take your fighters and get to the pier as soon as possible. More backup will arrive soon."
"But there's only three hours left until sundown…"
Mr Y quickly hangs up, keen not to waste any more precious time.
The car that is accompanied by several other security vehicles close by, continues with its journey into the city straight towards Y-Tower.
Leon sits quietly in the back seat next to Mr Y staring out of the window with his hands still tied up. As soon as they reach the perimeter of the city, Mr Y steps out then drags the young boy out alongside him.
"What are you doing?" Leon questions him with uncertainty.
"I need you to smile at that security camera up there for me". Before Leon has the chance to reply, he forces the boy back into the car then steps back in himself so that they can continue on with their journey.
"Do you understand why we just did that?" Mr Y asks as the car drives off.
"So that no one tries to explode this car on the way to its destination" Leon answers.
"Well done, gold star for you! You sure are smart for an 8 year old!" Mr Y claps his hands with sarcasm. "Are you not worried about where we're going boy?"
"No. My dad is gonna kill you when we get there!" Leon hatefully replies back.
"Don't worry, you'll watch him and the rest of them die very soon. But first, there are some important people waiting for us at Y-Tower who would like to meet you".