Chapter 29
The flashing lights are blinding whilst the loud cheers from the crowds are all that Axel can hear right now when the glass elevator doors open out into the arena. He immediately recognises his old friend Max standing in the middle of the raised platform at the centre of the stage. The heavyweight wrestling champion stands tall with his back towards Axel whilst keeping one on his opponent by glancing over his right shoulder. Max's red eye glares with no fear and his stance appears menacing to everyone in the room.
"Silence!" Mr Y claps his hands. He and his sister stand up in their viewing box with the best seat in the house, surrounded by a VIP crowd closely situated in the rows underneath them.
"Tonight, I am proud to announce the biggest fight that Wood Oak City has ever seen. Two very experienced champions and old friends who now stand as enemies!" The crowd immediately go insane as they roar with excitement.
"Now for the rules. Well there are no rules EXCEPT for three. Rule number one! Our fighters fight alone, that means nobody else intervenes no matter how ugly this gets!" Mr Y glances over to one corner of the arena spotting Adam, Cherry, Estel and Floyd. "Say hi to the camera folks, this shit is being televised live!" He laughs as their four faces show up on the big screen. "Oh and that reminds me, before we begin, I would like us to bow our heads down for a minute's silence to remember all of those who tragically lost their lives earlier tonight from the skytrain disaster".
"Motherfucker!" Adam clenches his fists, glaring at Mr Y with hate whilst Estel pulls him back. During the minute silence, Axel turns his gaze over towards his friends in the distance. He gives Adam a reassuring nod that they, along with Blaze and Leon will walk out of here alive tonight. He then looks straight ahead towards the VIP crowd underneath Mr and Ms Y. There, Axel spots his ally Shiva sitting with his hood up discreetly bowing down his head so that the twins stay oblivious to his presence.
"Now for rule number 2!" Ms Y takes her turn with the microphone to compare. "It is against the rules for any of the fighters to use chi, as in supernatural energy. Harsh consequences will be faced if used" she grins, pursing her lips. Max takes the opportunity at this point to smirk at Axel, glaring with confidence at him in the eye from the other side of the ring.
"And finally, rule number 3….. This fight is to the death! If one opponent refuses to kill, or if Axel is unable to fight anymore, a second opponent will be brought into this ring to face Thunder. Is that clear?!" This time Mr Y directs his stare towards the two fighters standing at the centre of the ring.
"Got it!" Axel sarcastically replies, throwing his shirt into the crowd.
"This fight has been a long time coming, I'm looking forward to killing you" Max grins as the two of them ready their stances opposite one another. The silence of the crowd and the tension in the air pierces through the room as the two fighters pause for a long moment until the bell rings.
Axel's defense immediately goes up when Max is first to charge forward with his signature thunder tackle. With speed, the wrestler projects himself, extending his shoulder which catches his opponent in the arm as Axel is forced to step back and block. Max then attempts three vertical chops however, these are too slow compared to Axel's right hook which catches his jaw. The wrestler quickly counterattacks, hitting his knee powerfully into Axel's chest, causing him to lose his breath for a second. Never has Axel witnessed Max as capable and as dangerous as he is now.
"This is what you get when you pit a pro wrestler against a powerless street fighter!" Shiva overhears Ms Y commenting and laughing with amusement behind him. He and the others in the room nervously watch the fight, uncertain where this is going to go. Fortunately Axel is fast enough to judge Max's next attack. As the wrestler begins to slide forward, aiming for the legs, Axel strikes his fist into Max's neck, delivering a powerful agonising uppercut. Whilst Max stands still in the middle of the ring recovering, Axel continues his assault as he repeatedly delivers a sequence of powerful kicks, jabs and uppercuts that violently damage Max's body.
Surprisingly however, given the amount of trauma and heavy hits directed at Max, the wrestler remains standing strong as he takes each punch one by one without even flinching. When Max has had enough, he grits his teeth and clenches his fists through the pain before his energy violently explodes into a spinning knuckle bomb that almost knocks Axel out of the ring.
"Are you done yet?" Max grins, spitting away the blood from his mouth whilst he charges forward towards his opponent who is now lying weak on the ground.
"You're nothing without your powers!" He hisses before lifting Axel up high in the air then slamming his body down into the floor using a deadly German suplex.
Trying his best to ignore the pain, Axel finally kicks up off the ground, wiping the blood away from his nose and mouth using his wrist. The two fighters immediately square up to each other in an attempt to grapple one another.
"Why are you doing this man? We're your family! We can help you get out of this!" Axel pleads with him as the volume in the arena continues to rise.
"I don't want your help!" Max shouts back.
The two men continue to aggressively attack as Thunder headbutts Axel who then counterattacks with a double scissor kick to his face.
"Don't make me kill you…" Axel replies, this time gaining the upper hand as he delivers another sequence of fast punches and kicks, forcing Max to gear up his defense.
"You're not the same killer you used to be Axel. You might be stronger physically but in that head of your's, you're weak!" Max argues back in an attempt to psychologically undermine his enemy. Unexpectedly he then pulls out his signature bear hug move. Max aggressively attempts to crush Axel's skull between his arms whilst staring down at him with no mercy or remorse in his eyes.
Axel uses every last bit of strength in him to try to pull Max's arms apart from each side of his skull. The seconds that pass by feel like hours until the fighter finds his true strength deep within, taking Max by surprise. Nobody else has ever matched his strength nor have they survived this signature move until now when Axel finally manages to pull Max's arms apart and away from crushing his skull.
He then leaps forward, heavily striking Max in the chest with each knee one at a time until the wrestler stumbles back.
Compared to the beginning of the fight, Max now appears weaker than before, where he is now out of breath and disorientated.
"All you have to do is refuse to fight then this will all be over! They're your real enemies!" Axel shouts, pointing up at the twins as Max holds onto his chest and head in severe pain. The noise from the spectators is currently louder than ever. With his body weaker than ever before, Max starts to give into the idea of defeat and even death. He feels dazzled by all of the flashing lights surrounding them and is uncertain at what his enemy will do next.
"We can kill them and leave this place! Leon is safe now! Max, listen to me!" Axel's voice echoes as his old friend continues trying to persuade him to stop fighting.
"Continue!" Ms Y demands on the microphone, disappointed at the pause in the fight.
"He can't even get up right now, look at him!" Axel shouts back, turning away from Max who is now laying on the ground in agony.
"You must kill him then!" She demands.
"I gave you the fight you wanted, I've won now! Nobody else has to die!" Axel yells back.
Suddenly they hear a loud explosion from above that shakes the entire arena.
"Find out what's going on and take these two out of the ring to patch them up! The fight will resume in five minutes!" Mr Y orders before the bell sounds.
Max is quickly helped off towards the other side of the ring as several other fighters rush forward to assist him. The first thing they do is place headphones over his ears before they begin to tend to his wounds.
Adam immediately runs over towards Axel who is also badly injured. "All you have to do is give Shiva and I the signal and we can end this and arrest them! Don't go back into that fight man! One of you will die!" He begs.
"We can't attack them yet until I know Leon is safe. They have a fucking vest strapped on him! What if that explosion just now was…. please tell me Blaze has contacted you to confirm they're safe and out of here!" Axel tugs onto Adam's shirt, anxiously waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry," Adam quietly replies with regret whilst shaking his head.
"We have to go to the roof...!" Axel insists with urgency in his voice.
"Listen to me! If either of us try to leave this arena right now, what is stopping Mr Y from detonating that vest around Leon? To me that explosion I just heard sounded more like a crash than a bomb device! Now we have five minutes, anything could happen in that time. Blaze is a smart girl, she won't let anything happen to Leon". Adam tries his best to reassure his friend who has no choice other than to focus on the remainder of the fight at this point.
"Fetch me Blaze, she'l be next to fight if Axel refuses to kill Max ''. Mr Y orders, whispering in the ear of one of his bodyguards.
"Sir there's a problem…"
"What?" He replies, clenching his jaw as he and Ms Y cautiously listen.
"Blaze is no longer in the waiting room..."
"Then send the rest of our guards up to the fucking roof you idiot!" Mr Y demands, losing his cool. Shiva patiently waits below for his signal, eavesdropping on their conversation behind him.
10 minutes earlier.
Blaze quietly waits behind the door leading up to the roof of Y-Tower. It only takes a few moments until a female punk wearing a spiked leather jacket named Margaret opens it. Blaze immediately slams the heavy metal door in her face, knocking her out cold. She then carefully takes out a glass flask from the fighter's jacket pocket before walking out onto the roof with it.
As soon as she spots four street thugs in the corner, Blaze throws forward the flask which breaks onto the ground and instantly electrocutes them. She then cartwheel kicks two yakuza fighters who each slide towards her on the ground. By now, the roof is dark with the only light briefly shining from the spire at the top of the building. It is also heavily raining with fog limiting the view ahead of the city this high up, plus thunder is rumbling loudly close by.
A fighter called Goro wearing a white gi is next to take on Blaze. He presses one fist forward in front of his chest before speedily charging towards her until it catches her in the stomach. This causes Blaze to stumble over a metre backwards towards the edge of the roof where she has to act fast to regain her balance and not fall off. She waits again under the dense fog for him to storm forward once more. This time when he attacks, Blaze moves to one side before grappling Goro then using momentum to suplex the heavyweight fighter over the side of the building.
He grips onto the edge, hanging on with one hand for dear life.
"Where's the boy?!" Blaze probes "Tell me! I'll help you up!" She insists, reaching forward her hand to offer him her help.
"He is… " Suddenly lightning strikes the roof around them, causing the bricks on the edge to crumble.
"Wait… hold on!" Blaze shouts but it is too late. Goro falls all the way down the 110 story building to meet his end.
"LEON?!!!!!!!!!!" Blaze anxiously shouts, trying to avoid the blasts of lightning that hit the roof around her during this intense thunderstorm. She runs through deep puddles, knocking out any fighters left using her chi who stand in the way.
"LEON!!!? WHERE ARE YOU??!!" She frantically shouts, turning around scanning each direction looking for him.
There is a long silence as Blaze waits. She starts to lose hope in the middle of the fog, uncertain if he is even alive.
"Mommy!" Suddenly a voice calls out from above.
"Leon??!" She answers, feeling a huge sense of relief.
"I'm up here!" He shouts back with his voice shaking. As soon as Blaze glances up towards the spire, her heart almost stops when she can just about see him dangling in the air amongst the fog.
"Don't move, I'm coming to get you!" Blaze shouts before jumping on the metallic elevator platform. She kicks the button, activating it to ascend up the spire. Less than a minute later, she stops it so that Leon can put his feet down onto the platform.
"Oh my God, you must have been so frightened up here!" Blaze worriedly says to him after looking down over the edge from where he was hanging. She kneels down in front of the boy, inspecting the vest and harness strapped around him.
"Please can we go home now, I'm sorry I ran away. I never meant what I said to you…" Leon looks up at her with fear whilst tears run down his cheeks.
"Hey, it's ok. I'm gonna get us out of here, everything is gonna be ok" she tries her best to reassure him. "First I have to take this vest off of you. I know it's really windy and cold up here but I need you to stay as still as you can, ok?"
"Ok", Leon nods, shivering from the cold rain. She gently places her palm on his forehead, suspecting that he is suffering from hypothermia when she feels his temperature burning up.
"How long have you been up here?" Blaze asks as she pulls out a knife from her pocket.
"Almost three hours" his voice shakes, still traumatized from this ordeal. Suddenly Leon panics after lightning strikes the ground next to the spire.
"It's ok, don't be scared I'm not going anywhere". Blaze tries to remain as calm as possible but inside she is really panicking, knowing that she has to act fast. One wrong move would mean the bomb detonates which will result in the two of them falling almost 1500 feet down.
"Try to take slow deep breaths, everything is going to be ok, trust me. Just please try not to move." She takes a deep exhale then carefully opens the vest, noticing several wires. Blaze then narrows her conclusion down to two wires, one blue and one red. She tries her hardest to remember from previous training in the police force which wire she must cut on this type of vest, however Blaze begins to doubt herself and her own vivid memory of the past.
"Mommy…?" Leon breathes heavily with fear in his voice as more lightning continues to strike the roof underneath them. Blaze knows that she has to now make a decision quickly.
"Do you trust me?" She asks. Leon nervously nods back as they look into each other's eyes. She takes a deep exhale then decides to cut the blue wire on the vest. Within a second, the explosives disarm, then Blaze immediately removes the vest and unbuckles the boy from the harness attached to the spire.
Leon instantly leaps forward into her arms as they share their first ever hug together. It feels emotional and overwhelming for the two of them, yet comforting.
"Thank you for saving me," Leon says, resting his head on her shoulder.
"You realise, I'm the first person who ever met you" Blaze smiles with tears running down her cheeks. She embraces every second holding him.
"You're really my mom, aren't you?" He asks.
"Yeah, and I promise you that as long as I'm alive, you never have to spend another day without me around again" Blaze answers, feeling him shivering against her body.
"You must be so cold right now, let's get out of here" she says as she removes her leather jacket, gently placing it around him.
She pushes the button so that the elevator starts to descend back down to the roof.
"There's a helicopter coming to get us, everything is gonna be ok". Blaze says standing to her feet whilst lifting him up.
"What about dad? Is he upset with me for running away?" Leon worriedly asks.
"No, that wasn't your fault. Your dad loves you very much" she tries her best to keep him warm as the two of them shiver together through the rain.
"Can we see him now?"
"Yeah, he's gonna meet us very soon. Everyone else is with him right now, they're taking down those bad people who took you away".
"Look, I can keep us warm until the helicopter gets here" Leon replies, holding up a weak orange flame in one hand.
"No, save your energy you need to stay strong right now" Blaze replies, stepping off the elevator platform.
"Well isn't this cute huh? The Lioness and her cub reunited! Too bad you're not venomous like me" Diva smirks at them whilst holding up a snake wrapped around her body. Suddenly more fighters step forward with at least eight kickboxers and four men in suits armed with guns.
"Leon, stay behind me" Blaze says as she slowly places him down before standing in front of him.
"You're outnumbered Blaze, surrender and we can get the boy a medic. That fever of his isn't going anywhere" Diva snarls.
Two of the gunmen draw in closer. "Kikousho!" Blaze shouts as she projects a large energy orb forward which throws them onto the ground. Leon can't help but look up at her in awe as Blaze takes on then defeats several kickboxers who are next to close in to attack her.
"This time I'm gonna make sure you're dead!" Blaze clenches her fists at Raven who is the last kickboxer standing.
"You know me and you know I don't die easily" he laughs before jumping forward to repeatedly kick her in the ribs. Blaze then reaches for her knife and slices it forward in the air. It painfully cuts his thigh, catching Raven off guard. She wastes no time as she stabs the blade into his neck. Raven immediately falls to his knees below her in agony.
"There are only so many lives you have and your time now is up. I'll never see you again" Blaze remarks as she pulls out the knife from his neck. The kickboxer falls flat on the ground, finally dead this time.
Blaze does her best to avoid any bullets flying forward from the two remaining gunmen in the distance. "Get back…!" She orders, whilst standing in front of Leon to protect him.
"I told them to purposely miss as we need you both in the arena now…" Diva grins.
"Go to hell!" Blaze shouts back right before she feels the wind and noise from the helicopter rising up several metres behind them.
"Leon, run!" Blaze shouts as she fires forward several more energy bolts to keep Diva and her men back.
"Shoot the pilot!" Diva demands. Then gunmen fire several shots that end up cracking through the glass window, eventually killing the pilot officer who ends up with his head fallen over the controls.
The helicopter immediately starts to violently spin out of control. It's tail is the first to hit the spire on the building. Diva and her men quickly take cover on the other side of the roof whilst Blaze protects Leon as they lie face down on the ground. Seconds later, the helicopter crashes down then explodes into flames behind them.
"Are you ok sweetie?" Blaze asks Leon, trying her best not to feel disorientated.
"Mom, your head is bleeding" he replies.
"I'm alright, come on we have to get out of here!" She takes his hand as the two of them run towards the fire door.
Suddenly Blaze feels a stringing grip around her neck as Diva tries to pull her back after projecting her snake forward. The reptile tightly wraps itself around her throat where Blaze continues to choke as Diva draws in closer. She finds whatever energy she has left then grips onto the snake around her neck, electrocuting it with her chi.
"No!!!!!" Diva shouts, feeling frustrated when her pet reptile ends up lying motionless on the ground.
Blaze instantly falls to her knees, trying her best to catch her breath after the attack.
"Leon, go!" She tries to shout but it's too late. A gunman steps out in front of the boy, forcing the two of them to surrender.
"Your chopper is gone and there's no other way down from this tower." Diva remarks.
"Fine, you win. Just don't hurt him, please. He needs to see a doctor" Blaze swallows her pride as she rises to her feet with her hands in the air. They are then forced back towards a door leading to some steps down into the building before they reach the glass elevator.
Leon tightly grips onto Blaze, wrapping his arms around her lower back with his head resting against her stomach. "Keep your eyes closed and don't be scared" she whispers to him as the two of them stand in the elevator quietly with several armed bodyguards each pointing a loaded gun towards them.