Chapter 20

"Hurry up! They're getting ready to take off!" Estel shouts whilst the last of the group close in on the cargo plane. Still badly injured, bruised and bleeding, they run as quickly as they can towards the aircraft.

"My hands are still tied man!" Sammy says to Adam who reaches for his knife to help his brother.

"Come on, let's go!" Floyd shouts before the others make it onto the back of the aircraft.

"Shit, this thing is taking off! The door's arn't shut!" Cherry panics with her heart racing. The team are immediately met with more gunmen and thugs with knives waiting for them inside the plane.

The noise of the engine and it's speed are distracting for the group who have to work hard to keep their balance whilst dodging bullets as they fight their enemies.

Axel is first to headbutt then elbow one of the gunmen, knocking him out cold. With ease, Max throws one of the thugs holding a knife out of the plane before it leaves the runway.

"We have to find the twins and stop this thing before it's airborne!" Estel shouts.

"If you wanna jump out, now's your chance! I'm getting to Y Island one way or another!" Axel answers back.

They grab onto anything they can as soon as the plane lifts off the ground.

"Holy shit!" Sammy feels alarmed, looking over the edge whilst tightly holding onto anything possible hanging off the walls.

"We're picking up speed and gaining altitude fast!" Floyd observes.

"Watch out!" Estel yells, kicking another gunman who unexpectedly steps forward. He topples over towards her, causing the two of them to roll back towards the edge of the plane which is now rocking from side to side as they begin to see the clouds.. The angle of the ascent and the wind throws the pair back towards the open exit.

Shiva who is closest is quick to help her, roundhouse kicking the gunman who ends up falling out into the sky.

"Thanks," Estel nods.

"GET OFF THE EDGE! IT'S GONNA BREAK!" Floyd urgently shouts through the engine noise as more enemies rush forward. With milliseconds to spare, Estel leaps forward, landing into Adam's arms as Axel runs then slides on his front, extending his hand out just in time for Shiva to grab it. The entire metal panel underneath Shiva's feet breaks then flies out into the sky.

"I got you!" Axel shouts as his friend hangs out of the plane. The rest of the team cover, throwing enemies past them who fall to their deaths.

"1, 2, 3… Pull up!" Axel instructs, helping Shiva back into the plane. The two of them immediately fight back to back against more armed uniformed officers who show up with tasers.

"I hate these things!" Shiva complains after dashing one at one of their enemies. "Thanks for saving my ass again, I owe you one" Shiva says to Axel.

Cherry runs past them, leaping off one of the walls of the plane to strike another gunman with full power from her guitar. She manages to disarm him and snatches his firearm away.

"Dad, what should I do with this?" The teenager asks.

"Don't shoot!" Adam answers whilst punching a knived thug across the face. "You don't wanna risk a bullet hitting something that will cause this plane to go down!" He says, making her nervous so she cautiously throws the weapon out of the plane.

Once all of their enemies at the back of the aircraft are down, the team presses forward into the next section.

"Not these hoes again!" Adam complains as soon as the doors open.

Several women in skimpy leather outfits holding onto electrical whips immediately charge forward. One of them makes a fatal error when her whip gets caught around Floyd's metallic arms. He quickly pulls her closer, electrocuting her with triple the voltage in his arms.

"Nice work!" Cherry complements, catching her breath during the brawl.

"This way, come on!" Adam leads. He throws two of the wine bottles amongst the lavish private jet style seating over towards the thick cockpit glass doors.

"Cheap shit!" He comments as the glass fails to break the door. "Guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way…" he readies his chi.

"Adam! Wait!" Max shouts.

Suddenly, an array of bullets fire through the door that shatters it's thick glass panel. One of the bullets unexpectedly catches Sammy in his side, throwing him back onto the ground.

"Uncle Sammy!" Cherry shouts, racing towards his side.

"Stop the bleeding with anything you've got!" Max tries to stay calm, attending to the young man's wound amongst the chaos. As soon as the doors slide open, the rest of the group stand their ground when Mr Y finally comes into view.

Cherry can't help but stare up at him with her jaw dropped, witnessing him holding onto an uzi gun in one hand with his rocket launcher in the other.

"Well well well, look at what we have here. And they even brought along my father's favourite syndicate traitor!" Mr Y smirks, glaring with hate at Shiva.

"You're under arrest and you're outnumbered! Turn yourself in and we will spare your life!" Estel insists.

There is a short pause before Mr Y cracks out his fathers' very same laughter, amused by their efforts.

"The only way you're gonna catch me and arrest me bitch, is by throwing one of them grenades you have my way. Have you even thought about what those babies would do to this plane at 20,000 feet?" He continues to heckle. "For the very same reason, it's you who is outnumbered. All I have to do is fire one of my own rockets and this aircraft will explode into hundreds of pieces."

There is another brief pause before more female fighters storm into the cockpit. Mr Y immediately fires his uzi gun, forcing the vigilantes to take cover behind anything possible inside and just outside of the cockpit.

"It's gonna be ok", Adam whispers as he ducks down on the ground next to Sammy who is still heavily bleeding next to the broken door. The skater starts to go in and out of consciousness with his vision blurred.

"Stay with me bro…" Adam says whilst defending his brother with his chi from any surrounding fighters.

The rest of the team work hard inside the large cockpit area, battling one opponent after another. Mr Y is the most difficult of them all to grab hold of due to his speed and gunfire. He is like one loose cannon who is incredibly hard to catch. Cherry and Shiva are the ones to keep on his tail on each side of the room as they are the two fastest members of the team.

"Max, look out!" Estel shouts before another array of bullets flies past them. The wrestler ducks as he witnesses one of the female fighters holding a whip collapsing when several bullets strike her through the back.

"Not so fast!" Cherry rolls forward before jumping high in the air to deliver a kick to Mr Y's chest. Both of his weapons fall out of his hands then he stumbles back towards Floyd who is right behind him. The Maori fighter restrains Mr Y whilst he kicks and fusses. The rest of the group at the same time manage to successfully take down any remaining fighters in the cabin.

Not admitting to defeat, Mr Y decides to counter attack, headbutting Floyd behind him which forces the fighter to loosen his grip. He then rolls forward in his white jacket, this time reaching for his rocket launcher on the ground.

"NO! WAIT!" Estel holds out her hands as the room falls silent. Without a second thought, their enemy lunges on the ground, aiming his rocket launcher towards the flight controls.

"Step any closer towards me and I'll do it! Then this plane will crash!" Mr Y threatens.

"What do you want then?" She asks.

"The only way we're gonna land safely is if the person who killed my father and our syndicate traitor in here dies!"

The group turns to glance over towards Axel and Shiva with uncertainty on their faces.

The two fighters stare back at each other, giving one another a brief nod.

"Alright, you win" Axel replies. He then kicks the uzi gun on the ground over to Mr Y.

"You can kill me first and get revenge for your father's death. But I wanna know where they are and what Steffan has planned". Axel slowly walks forward with his hands in the air.

Mr Y starts to laugh, aiming his gun as his enemy draws in closer.

"When this is over, there will be a new Wood Oak state, with everybody in it under my control. As for Leon, he will be our defence against the rest of the world. We will become unstoppable!" Still aiming the uzi gun towards Axel, Mr Y takes out a folded piece of paper then hands it to him.

The top of the document is headed as 'Operation Burn'.

"Visser plans to wipe your son's memory away then use his powers to serve our new state. That's all you need to know" Mr Y smirks, moments away from pulling the trigger.

"That's all well and good but you realize, don't you that Steffan has already betrayed you?" Axel calmly replies.

"I don't care! I want you dead!" He shouts back.

"And you think that when I'm dead that he's gonna share all of that power and control with you? I'm guessing he never told you that years ago, Steffan planned on taking back the syndicate from your father. His goal was to then pass it on to me."

"That's bullshit!" Mr Y snaps with his hand starting to shake.

"Are you sure? He has you and me exactly where he wants us right now….I know him so well."

Still with his hands in the air, Axel's palms suddenly light up with bright orange fire. This causes Mr Y's vision to blur, giving him the opportunity to first grab hold of the rocket launcher in his other hand. The two men immediately start to fight over the uzi gun as further bullets fly around the cockpit out of control. Shiva dashes forward, grabbing hold of the fallen rocket launcher on the ground next to them before hitting Mr Y over the back of the head with it.

"He's knocked out cold. Nice work you two!" Max complements.

"That's the only time you'll ever see me use a weapon like this!" Shiva replies, carefully handing it over to Estel.

"Thanks! I owe you one." Axel says. "Tie this son of a bitch up with anything you can find and go and find Adam! We need to safely land this plane and get Sammy help," he orders.

Max carefully carries the young fighter towards them then he lies Sammy down on some of the luxury looking couches just outside of the cockpit.

"Hey buddy, everything is gonna be ok we're all here for you" he says.

Estel and Floyd stand guard over Mr Y's body whilst Cherry and Shiva tie up the rest of the remaining fighters who may still be alive. They use life jacket straps and any bits of old clothing or cloth they can find.

"How's he looking right now?" Max worriedly queries whilst Axel carefully examines Sammy's bullet wound.

"The good news is it's just just a shard and not a whole bullet below his abdomen. However if I try to remove it, he could still bleed out. Just keep pressure on the wound for now and dab some of this on it." He hands Max one of the bottles of whiskey on the side. "You're gonna be ok Skate, but no more fighting for the rest of the night though!" Axel gives him a reassuring smile.

"I can't promise anything….owww!" Sammy hisses in pain whilst Max pours the alcohol over his wound.

"Just rest up here, as soon as we land we'll find you a medic".

Axel gets up to go and wash the blood off his hands.

"How the hell are we even gonna land this plane? Mr Y is knocked out cold!" Max quietly says to him with urgency in his voice.

"Adam's our best shot".

"But he's a helicopter pilot! That's pretty different to a fucking 747! Shouldn't we just turn the plane back around and get help from the authorities back at Wood Oak? It's only an hour away…"

"No!" Axel snaps. He immediately calms himself down, trying his best not to panic. "I told you, I'm getting to Y Island one way or another! I have to find Blaze and Leon. Besides, we don't have enough fuel to make it back. Y Island is less than 20 minutes away…"

The two of them cautiously glance over towards Adam who is trying his best to also stay calm in front of the flight controls.

"God help us." Max shakes his head.

Steffan takes a bite of his apple, crunching loudly whilst sitting opposite Blaze and Leon in the passenger part of his plane. The seats and decor are a cream colour and luxurious very much like a private jet. It couldn't be anymore different than the back of the aircraft used to smuggle goods.

"Here, eat one of these. You look like you need the energy" he says, rolling a red apple across the table towards Blaze.

"No thanks" she coldly replies.

One of the officers steps forward next to Leon after Steffan gives him a nod.

"Hey! Don't touch him!" Blaze orders.

"It's ok, see?" Steffan calmly replies as the officer gently unties the boys' hands.

"Leon, why don't you go and take a look at the sunrise from that side of the plane, it's worth seeing. There's something I need to discuss with your mother before we land…."

Blaze turns towards the boy, giving him a reassuring nod. "It's ok. You're too important and they won't risk trying to hurt us, I promise." She notices several armed guards stationed at the back and front section of the aircraft standing still. He takes an apple from the bowl, then Leon stands up, still uncertain whether or not to go.

"Go on, I'm right here don't be afraid". Blaze replies as he cautiously walks away from her to sit further down the aisle on the opposite side.

"I have nothing to say to you except for one thing," She glares directly at Steffan in the eye.

"Whatever you plan on doing with Leon, you'll have to get through me first".

He sits back in his chair, staring back at Blaze with his head tilted to one side.

"You and I haven't properly met before, but I can see where you get your fighting spirit from. Your family was the same…."

"Then you should know that I'm looking at you the very same way I looked at their killer right before I ended his life."

"I appreciate your concern and you trying to defend Leon, it's your job after all as his mother. But I'm not out to hurt him or you. It's actually in my best interests to keep the two of you alive until that baby is born. In fact, whilst you're my hostage you can have anything you want! Food, water, a comfortable place to sleep, even a TV…. Unlike the last time the syndicate held you as prisoner."

"You don't know shit!" Blaze angrily snaps.

"I know everything, what they did to you. You still remember it, don't you? Everything that happened in order to take your power away…."

"Try to hurt me or Leon and I'll…."

"No doubt!" He grins, interrupting her sentence. "I can see why my boy is head over heals for you… beauty, intelligence, but most of all you're as tough as they get. You're a survivor Blaze. Him and your friends would be dead by now if you hadn't stepped up."

"They'd do the same for me, so don't get your hopes up. You'd really kill your own son huh? Just to get what you want?"

"I got news for you darling. Axel once tried to do the same to me, we're more like each other than you think. Didn't your parents once try to burn you alive when you were a little girl? At least that's what I heard…"

He takes a brief pause, staring at Blaze with amusement as she falls silent in front of him.

The captain suddenly interrupts their tense conversation.

"This is a passenger announcement. We are about to begin our descent. Ensure that your seat belt is fastened and your chair is upright…"

"Leon! Come back and sit next to me…" Blaze calls him over. He helps her fasten her seat belt as her hands are still tied. Steffan then decides to stand up then head over to one of his agents at the back of the plane, leaving them alone for a moment.

"What's the update then?" He quietly asks.

"They're on our tail, about 200 miles behind us," Officer Ralphy reports.

"Has the bomb detonated yet?"

"It will, right off the coast of Y Island for Ms Y to witness. She will get to see her brother perish on board."

"Once we land we will also kill her. I can't work with those twins any longer, they are both too volatile and they are a liability. Like their father, they've served their purpose" Steffan explains, clenching his fists.

"Sir, there are reports also that Stone and his friends are on that aircraft".

"I know. I was the one who led them into the trap. If they haven't killed each other already, they will certainly die before they get to Y Island."

"But isn't he your son?"

Steffan sighs, trying not to lose his patience. "I'm just giving Axel a taste of his own medicine. No one, not even my own flesh and blood gets away with what he did to me!" He casually takes another bite of his apple. "You should try one of these, they're delicious!" He loudly crunches, dismissing any more conversation about the matter.