Chapter 26

Shiva bows down his head with his face concealed by his cap as he mops one of the bathrooms on the mezzanine above the ground floor entrance. Stationed here means that he has a clear view of the front desk below. He takes a glance at the monitor from above once he hears the receptionist confirming that Mr Y's convoy has arrived in the underground carpark. He sees the black and white footage of the criminal stepping out of the car with Leon right next to him.

17:33 - New Message

'They've arrived, Leon is alive'.

He quickly texts a short message to Axel's phone before continuing with their plan, remaining patient for later on.

"You're late! Senator Peters is already here waiting in the lobby, he and a team of Government officials want to speak to us immediately!" Ms Y hastily approaches her brother as soon as he exits the elevator on the 17th floor.

The twins who are smartly dressed in their familiar attire calmly walk towards their office where the Senator and his team are patiently waiting.

"Gentlemen, sorry I am late for this meeting. As you know, today is unusually busy with the big fight going ahead later tonight."

"I understand", a man named Orson Briggs who is a director of the CIA starts their conversation. "We've never met but I'm sure Senator Peters has briefed you as to why we are here" the man in his mid 60s with thick dark eyebrows and brown eyes continues.

"Yes, and my sister and I assure you that the boy will remain unharmed".

"And what about the child's parents? We've known for a long time Fielding was still alive but even if Max kills the boys' father, she will automatically have full custody now that she knows everything."

"Rest assured, by the end of tonight they along with Adam Hunter will be dead too." Ms Y cuts in.

"How much do you want then?" Mr Briggs queries, getting straight to the point.

"Sixty million should do nicely," Mr Y smirks.

"I don't believe we are willing to match that" the agent replies.

"Well really, that depends on how much you are willing to spend on this country's national security. I mean, I could always reach out to the British government instead, the boy has dual nationality after all" he shrugs.

"Ok, sixty million it is. But only after the parents are dead".

"You got yourself a deal" Mr Y grins. "Follow me gentlemen and say hello to your new investment!"

He opens a guarded sealed door that leads to a regular looking office except there are no other doors or windows inside. Leon quietly sits on a couch with his hands tied, with the TV switched on in front of him.

The agent pulls up a chair then takes a seat opposite him, noticing several cuts on the boy's face as well as bruises on his arms.

"What is your name, son?" The fierce looking agent asks, staring into his eyes as the TV is lowered down.

"Leon…" he nervously answers.

"Leon what?"

"Leon Stone".

"After tonight, that won't be your name anymore. From tomorrow, we will take you away from these people here and your only purpose will be to serve this country from now on".

"But I wanna go home, where's my dad?" He worriedly asks.

The agent avoids answering his question. "What you can do and the gifts you have are very special and unique. One day you'll understand why we are doing this and you'll live only to serve your country just like your father once did" he gives a sinister smile before standing up to leave.

"So you plan to create a living weapon out of the boy? Nice!" Mr Y grins as the agent exits the room and the doors are sealed once again.

"Operation 'Burn' is highly classified and we believe from these blood samples you have sent us that the boy's powers are still developing, in particular his electrical chi. You just concentrate on dealing with his parents and keeping the child out of harm's way, otherwise you won't receive a single dime. Is that clear?"

"Crystal!" Mr Y forces a smile.

"Good. We will be back here tomorrow morning after the fight. Nobody can ever know about this conversation, otherwise we will have no choice but to kill you and your sister".

"I'm not here for another war!" Mr Y shrugs before they walk off, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"You realize they are still going to try and kill us anyway for what we know?" Ms Y remarks.

"And that is exactly why I had Peters copy these files" Mr Y holds up an identical brown folder labelled as 'Burn'.

Ms Y takes the opportunity to flick through it, noticing blood sample results and everything intelligence has collected about Leon and his parents since he was born.

"Can't you see they used us?" She argues. "We set the bait all those years ago with the sound waves and controlling the people of this city but they're the ones who planned the explosion at the hospital after that!"

"Once tonight is over, we give them the boy and we retreat to Y-island with these files for a while. If either of our lives are threatened, I will make sure this information is leaked all over the world" he promises. "In the meantime, take the boy to the roof where the tower's transmission is. Our enemies won't dare to destroy it if he is strapped to it with explosives."

"Where are you going brother?"

"Where is the best view of Y-Tower apart from in the air?"

"Sky train?" she grins.

"Bingo!" He winks then he skips off with a whole bag of firearms.

"Oh my, oh my, look what we have here…." Nora stands tall in her tight red corset and hat, admiring her enemies that have just raided the cargo ship. "You are a fine piece of work aren't you…" she cheekily grins at Adam, circling him with her whip in one hand.

"I ain't really into whips and chains and all that!" he replies, feeling unnerved by her presence.

"But you are into destroying my imports and fighters! One hundred brand new speakers ruined on my ship! My bosses won't be happy at all with this" she shakes her head as her tone changes to anger.

"Maybe if you can assist us, my officers will protect you and your life won't be in any danger" Estel tries to reason with her.

"Assist? Hmmm… but what you're really asking me to do is snitch... It is tempting though..." she replies, this time walking over towards Axel who is half sat, leaning against the piano with his arms folded.

"I'll tell you what, I'll give you the information you require but only to him" she grins, pursing her lips before putting one arm around his neck and pressing her body forward against his.

"Hey hands off!" Blaze shouts whilst Axel pushes Nora away.

"Let me tell you something, there's only one queen here rocking red!" Nora snarls back at Blaze in her iconic outfit.

"Yeah, and it ain't you!" Blaze squares up to her.

"You don't remember me do you? When you came to Y-island all those years ago…. Ooo the things I would do to have this guy's babies right here, you're a lucky girl… hey!" She shouts in an attempt to strike Blaze using her whip as the brunette drags her back by the hair.

"Yeah, I remember you bitch! I'll tell you what, we're gonna do this my way! Either you talk and tell me what they're about to do with my son or your face is about to get slammed into those spikes on that wall!" Blaze aggressively kicks and pushes her forward. One of the spikes remains just millimetres away from Nora's eye as Blaze holds her there in place.

"Ok, ok I'll talk, I'll tell you what I know!"

"I'm listening…" Blaze insists, keeping her exactly where she is.

"The Y-Twins are planning to transmit sound waves all over the city to control everyone!"

"Well then that's easy, we can destroy the transmitter using a chopper" Adam advises.

"They're planning to tie your boy to it with explosives! If you attempt to destroy it on the roof, or if you don't agree to go through with the fight, he will die. That's all I know, I swear!" Nora answers.

Blaze is suddenly taken back and she lets her go, feeling fearful of the situation.

Nora immediately takes advantage of her weakness, catching Blaze off guard when she slaps her around the face. Nora then runs forward towards the ships' steering wheel. She vigorously turns it in an attempt to crash the ship but her efforts are brought to a halt when Estel chucks a bottle of wine that hits the back of her head and forces Nora to fall to the ground.

"My head!" She complains, lying on her back disorientated with her hat out of place.

Blaze crouches down in front of her, knocking her hat off. "I think you should try a different colour next time, brunettes rock red better! No offense Estel" she grins back towards her friend.

"None taken! That type of clothing really isn't my thing anyway, I much prefer the comfort of my dark police uniform" the two of them giggle as the team exits the cargo ship.

"This is it, once we're on that train it only takes 12 minutes to reach Y-Tower" Cherry gulps, sitting down on the bench by the platform staring down at her palms.

"You don't have to do this if you're not ready for it" Adam says, putting one arm around her.

"I am ready, I'm just scared. I just don't wanna lose you daddy" she replies as her eyes begin to water.

"You won't, I promise. Remember the escape plan, your crazy Uncle Sammy will be on standby if any of us need to get out of there!"

"Do you think Leon will be ok? I miss him" she frowns.

"You know you're just like a big sister to him and he adores you. He's got all this family around so I'm sure he's gonna be ok".

"What about Uncle Max?"

"I don't know," Adam sighs, giving her a hug.

"Daddy?" Cherry says.

"Yes?"

"I think you should go over there and talk to that lady. Estel is definitely pissed with you…"

"That one is always pissed off with me!" He shrugs.

"Yeah but you should still try and be nicer to her".

"Really? She's just like a noble version of a terminator! All Estel cares about is her beloved police force and upholding the law!"

"Hmmm, that sounds familiar" Cherry raises her eyebrows at Adam. He then decides to take her advice and walks over to the other end of the platform to speak to Estel who is sitting by herself.

"That Nora definitely had a thing for me back on that cargo ship!" Floyd proudly grins.

"What? Are you kidding!? She was all over my dad and Uncle Axel! I mean, no offense but I think you misjudged her signals and you've been hanging out too much with Dr Zan! I don't think he's ever even had a girlfriend before" Cherry laughs.

"Come to think of it, I reckon you're right! I mean the guy is practically married to his lab!" They both giggle.

"Hey er, so this is probably the last chance we'll get to all talk properly to each other before things get crazy later." Adam says with caution as he approaches Estel who is counting her grenades and sharpening her knife.

"And? Do you need any spare supplies?" She offers him a grenade.

"No, erm I just wanted to say thank you and also sorry…"

"What for?"

"For putting your life on the line to save this city and my friends. And also I'm sorry for ever mocking you or being an immature idiot…" Adam swallows his pride.

"It's ok. I'm just doing my job" she smiles.

"If we survive tonight, do you still wanna go for that coffee?" He enthusiastically asks.

"Look err, I think you're great but…."

"But what?" Adam frowns.

"You see those two over there?" She glances over at Axel and Blaze talking on the other end of the platform.

"That's the same way my parents used to look at one another. What they got, that's real ride or die love right there." Estel observes.

"So? What are you saying then?"

"You and me, we're different. That's just not us. Our jobs and saving this city will always come first, that's our purpose in life and that can't ever change" she shrugs.

"Doesn't mean we still can't hang out…"

"We'll see. That's if we survive tonight" she sighs with regret.

Meanwhile on the other side of the platform the board informs them that the next train should arrive in 6 minutes. It is already dark and the city lights in the distance appear brighter than ever before.

"We've barely had any sleep, I think you should try and get some rest before we get to Y-Tower" Blaze worriedly says to Axel.

"I can't! Knowing that they've got Leon up there at the top of that tower strapped to explosives…"

"Listen to me, they can't hurt him otherwise there will be no fight. I've been thinking about this all day! Out of all of us, you have the best chance at saving him" Blaze replies.

"What are you saying?" Axel asks, concerned.

"I think it's better if you save Leon then escape. I'll fight Max…"

"No, fuck no! One punch from him to your head and your straight back in that coma or dead! I'm not gonna let you or Leon die tonight, you hear me? We both have to do this"

"But if I fail to save him, I'll never forgive myself" she cries.

"You and me, we can get through anything, remember?" He says to her with his hands next to her face and forehead resting against hers whilst staring into her eyes.

"It's ok to be scared, but I know you won't fail, we won't fail. We got so much living to do Blaze, so let's get Leon back and start making up for lost time." Axel explains as they hold each other.

"There's so many things I wanna know. Like what is his favourite thing in the world? What is Leon really like? What was his first word? Or what does he want for his next birthday? I've missed out on so much." She replies, wiping her eyes.

"Well, his favourite thing in the world is soccer and martial arts and Leon loves video games…" Axel smiles.

"So he definitely takes after you".

"No, no, no" he shakes his head. "You asked me what our son is really like, and he's just like you. Stubborn as hell, really smart like he has an answer for everything and he hates to lose at anything!"

"Aw you certainly have a way of describing my best qualities…" Blaze frowns.

"Other than that, he's caring, strong willed and brave just like you. His first word ever was apple, I know it's pretty random then after that it was dadda" they both laugh together. "And as far as his next birthday goes, I know he's been going on forever about getting a dog. Plus I know deep down he really wants his mom too, more than anything" Axel explains. "So we'd better get through tonight no matter how crazy things get later because I can't wait for the three of us to have a life together".

"I want that more than anything," Blaze gives him a warm smile and a kiss as the train slows down on the platform in front of them. The six fighters step into the crowded vessel, standing in close proximity next to one another amongst the public.

"Welcome to Sky Train, we hope that you enjoy this journey" the automated speaker announces.