Chapter 27

Mr and Ms Y cautiously pass by the plane's crash site before trekking further North towards their fortress. So far, the twins have been on the move for the last 4 hours.

"Here it is!" Mr Y says with excitement on his face. In the distance, 30m away they see a small abandoned bunker deep in the woods of the forest.

"What is this place? We should have been back at the fortress by now!" Ms Y huffs.

"You'll see, sister" he grins.

He uses his palm print to access and open the electronic door on the side of the bunker which is enclosed under moss and bushes.

As soon as they step inside, they get a feeling that the place hasn't been accessed or entered into for decades. It's old walls are rigged with damp and the air is murky and cold.

"I can't see a thing!" Ms Y complains through the darkness. In response to her, her brother claps his hands together twice. This causes an array of long ceiling lights above to switch on.

"How come I didn't know about this place?" She frowns.

"Father took me here once as a boy. He told me that if ever we were in danger and on our own, this would be the safest place for us to hide."

"Then how come I didn't know about it then?" Ms Y places her hands on her hips, feeling disappointed.

"Because you were too busy fencing everyday. I was always father's favourite…see?" He smirks, reaching for two tommy guns stored inside one of the cabinets.

"But father knew I was the smarter twin," she gives him an evil stare.

"Fortunately, he saved a couple of these for you too." He then opens the other side of the cabinet to reveal a line of five rapier swords. Ms Y's face instantly turns into glee, delighted and in awe of the display of shiny weapons. "I'll choose this one, it's deadly as hell!" She grins, reaching for the rapier in the middle with the basket hilt.

"Now all we have to do is get this thing to work…" Mr Y pulls out a tool box, a radio and an old laptop.

"What is even on that ancient thing?"

"If I can get a signal and reach through to Washi, we will be able to download his tracks onto this device. Once we play that music, all of our old staff and Steffan's staff will be under our control."

"And then I'm guessing you will be able to transmit those tracks through our satellite dishes surrounding the fortress all the way home!"

"Precisely…" Mr Y proudly smirks.

"But there's one issue brother…."

"What?" He raises his eyebrows, patiently waiting for the laptop to load.

"You're relying on Washi. How can you trust him?"

"Who do you think informed me that our enemies were on the way to the airport? I'll admit, I thought Stone or Hunter would kill him, but instead they let him go. Fortunately, Washi is loyal soldier to us and I have him wrapped around my thumb. So here, make yourself useful, then we'll be outta here by nightfall." He throws over to her a screwdriver along with a spare aerial for the radio.

By the time Blaze wakes up again, the room is dark and is only lit by the candles left melting on the hanging chandeliers. She realises that she is high up in the fortress due to the lack of noise and it's leaking roof. The temperature right now is freezing with no insulation kept from the coloured glass windows. The room also appears to be very old and mediaeval in its design with a wooden bed in the corner of a cold stoned floor.

Again, Blaze tries to sit up and hold out her palms. "Come on…" she perseveres through the pain in her body, cut and bruised as she closes her eyes. She hopes for even the slightest hint of a flame from her hand, but she is struggling to even release her own chi.

Suddenly she is distracted away from her thoughts when one of the guards bangs on the door. He is wearing a black ninja mask with dark clothing and a protective vest. Once the door is fully open, he carefully pushes forward a plate of rice through a gap under the iron bars that provide a barrier between them in front of the doorway.

Blaze slowly walks forward towards the gate. "Please can I see Leon?" She pleads, gripping onto the bars.

Instead of giving her an answer, the guard slams the door shut in front of her.

"Let me out! Let me see my son!" She aggressively kicks the bars and shouts at the top of her lungs. Ignoring the pain, Blaze's outburst continues for a further 5 minutes until a small firebolt of energy finally projects out of her palm. It ends up hitting the metallic door behind the bars, having little effect except for a small burn mark. But this is enough to put her mind at ease. She falls to her knees with her energy depleted, staring down at her stomach with a glimmer of hope left in her eyes.

"I'm gonna get us out of here, one way or another…" she promises, knowing now that the baby is still alive.

Unexpectedly, the door once again starts to open. She looks up to find that this time, Steffan is behind it. As he takes out the key to unlock the gate of bars, she picks up the plate or rice by her side then throws it at him along with anything else she can grab on the ground such as stones or loose tiles.

With ease, Steffan blocks each item as Blaze paces away from him, sitting on the floor until her back is against the wall.

"I knew you'd be angry but that temper of yours is gonna get you in trouble or killed" he smirks down at her.

Suddenly, a firebolt catches him off guard that Steffan is forced to block in front of his face using his own chi. He then projects a larger flame back at Blaze, which hits and burns the side of her wrist. Following this, six guards quickly run onto the scene holding tasers above her head.

"There's gonna be no more playing with fire from now on." Steffan crouches down in front of Blaze with a large flame flaring above his left hand.

"You won't get away with this…"

"I gave you a chance to prove yourself, Blaze. But you're never gonna betray him" Steffan reaches forward, pulling out the chain around her neck with Axel's ring on it.

"Then you should know that Leon ain't gonna fall for your bullshit either!" She glares back at him with hate.

"Maybe." He casually shrugs, admiring the white gold band. "Eventually though, the boy will trust me. I'm all he's got now after all. And if he doesn't, it will be much easier convincing Amber," Steffan grins.

"Over my dead body!"

"I figured once your daughter is born into this life, I'll raise her myself. You won't even be a distant memory for her." He says, releasing the chain.

"You can't do that!" Blaze shakes her head with exasperation.

"Yes I can. As soon as we cut her out of you, you'll be dead….. Hold her up!" He turns to two his guards who drag Blaze up off the ground.

"What are you doing?!" She shouts, noticing Dr Dahm stepping into the room holding an injection in one hand.

"NO!... LEON!" Blaze yells whilst the needle is stabbed into her arm.

"It's no use my dear, no one can hear you. By the time your boy comes to visit, you'll be sedated again. Sweet dreams my dear," Steffan smiles.

"No…! You bastard I'll….!" Before Blaze can finish her sentence, she passes out.

The guards carry her body back over towards the bed.

"You'll need this key in case you have to sedate her again when she starts to wake up. Nobody else comes into this room or opens that door unless I authorise it! Understood?" Steffan instructs, passing Dr Dahm a spare key.

"Yes Sir," he replies.

"What's that you got there kid?" Steffan walks into the guarded dining room area where Leon is sitting at the table. He takes one of the napkins to wipe off some of the rice left on his shoulder.

"It's nothing…" the boy rolls his eyes, hiding his hands underneath the table.

"I hope you're not messing around with that gun. Let me see," Steffan holds out his hand. To his surprise, Leon hands him a piece of paper with a pencilled drawing.

"Oh… this is interesting," he frowns, surprised by the picture. It dawns on him that in spite of all the training he is starting to put Leon through and all of the plans he has for the boy's future, he is still just an innocent child.

"You like to draw angels I see,"

"I used to think my mom was one before I met her, when we thought she was dead…" Leon looks down towards the floor.

"So your father lied to you?"

"He didn't know she was still alive at the time."

"But I bet he hid the truth from you anyway, right? About what really happened to her…"

"It doesn't matter now. This one is for my sister…"

"You know, I was the same when I was your age. I used to spend hours drawing people that I had lost. I never grew up with a mother and father, so I had to create my own path, surviving on the city streets day after day. Family is the most important thing Leon. I tried to reconcile with your father, I really did. I took him under my wing and I was there when he had nobody else in his life who cared. But he betrayed me and left me scarred for life. I'd hope that you and I could have a better relationship one day. We are still flesh and blood after all," he explains, handing back to Leon the piece of paper. "I have a couple of spare frames upstairs. Why don't you choose one. We can find a nice place on the wall for that angel."

"Ok," Leon nods.

Suddenly, a loud explosion from outside shakes the room that they are standing in.

"It's ok, don't be afraid," Steffan says to him before tapping onto his earpeace. "Ralphy, Fuubo, find out what the hell is going on out there! And tell all the other guards to remain on full alert!... Do you copy?... Shit!" he repeatedly taps the earpeace but hears nothing back. The lights under the chandeliers unexpectedly start to dim. "I said, do you copy?!" Steffan shouts this time.

"Come with me," he turns to Leon.

The two of them leave the dining room and enter the kitchen. To their horror, they find Grace along with the other staff holding their knives up in the air, ready to attack.

"What the…" Steffan looks on in shock, as if they are in some type of trance. Leon quickly fires an electrical bolt at the kitchen radio that immediately cuts off the classical music blasting through its speakers. The staff freeze and stare, unsure of what to do with their knives so the pair leave the kitchen and lock the door.

"Nice work," Steffan nods. "The twins are close by, keep your guard up!" he instructs as the two of them step out into the hallway.

Straight away they hear classical music once again playing through the speakers above them as they come across more guards and officers who try to fight. "Stay behind me!" Steffan instructs, but Leon ignores him and somersaults forward to attack one of the masked officers holding onto a kunai weapon.

They freeze when they hear Ms Y's voice sounding through the speakers. Steffan projects fireball after fireball at each one in order to bring a halt to her voice and the music.

"Your staff and officers are currently under our control." Her words echo all the way down the hallway. "You have 10 minutes to open the doors to the fortress and surrender yourselves. Anyone who chooses to remain inside the building will be executed!"

"Come on!" Steffan grabs onto Leon's hand, dragging him away from the beaten guard.

"Where are we going? We have to find my mom!" Leon insists.

"It's not safe right now, I'll take you somewhere you can hide first!"

"No!"

Steffan lifts and pulls the boy away from the centre of the hall just in time before another explosive device smashes through the glass window. Several more bombs shake up the fortress on all levels as Mr and Ms Y try everything they can in order to gain access into the building.

The rumble of the first explosion abruptly jolts Adam awake.

"Did anyone just hear that?" He frantically glances around the room.

"Hear what?" Estel is next to wake up on the ground next to him before they hear a second, more powerful blast. "Shit! What was that?" She asks, now on high alert.

This time the rest of the team also wake up.

"From that sound and shockwave of the blast, it could be coming from 3 to 4 miles away" Floyd listens carefully.

"The fortress!" Adam panics. He reaches into his pocket then he unfolds his map of the island. The rest of the team consisting of Cherry, Max and Shiva, are next to rush downstairs after hearing the explosions.

"Where the hell is Axel?" Adam asks. He paces around the farm house and porch, but his friend is nowhere to be seen.

"I thought he was downstairs with you guys?" Cherry frowns.

"Fuck! He's gone!" Adam screws up the map. "We have to leave now!"