Chapter 31

"You got me but this is all over now. Your plan for taking over the city along with the syndicate has fallen. You'll make this a lot easier if you turn yourselves in…" Adam slowly walks forward with his hands in the air, surprised by the size and scale of the machine that Mr Y is sitting above.

"Tell Blaze to get back out here or I'll kill you!" He demands.

"FINAL CRASH!" To their relief, Shiva suddenly blitzes forward, slamming his kick into the side of the device.

"Wait here!" Adam instructs Blaze before he rushes over to help. Within seconds, Estel and Cherry also burst onto the scene along with Floyd then finally Max who painfully gets up to fight. "The only way to bust this thing is to hit it!" Shiva advises, now starting to get out of breath.

"Attack one leg each!" Adam orders the two heavyweights on the team, Max and Floyd who have the strongest jabs.

He, along with Cherry, Estel and Shiva each take on Ms Y from all four corners whilst doing everything they can to avoid the deadly stomping of the machine.

For a moment, they gain the upperhand, each using the best of their fighting abilities. Adam drives his kicks into one of the mechanical legs then executes his signature air chopper move, where he whirlwind kicks hard into Ms Y's chest.

"Cherry! Be careful!" Estel shouts, noticing the teenager jumping high. She bravely grabs then climbs up the machine from it's centre. It's high up and a struggle for her as the device is constantly moving, so Cherry has to use all of the strength she has left to hang on. Once she is at the top of one of its legs, she locks eyes with Mr Y who is comfortably sitting at the controls.

"You think you're a smart young lady, don't you?" He callously grins. Cherry catches her breath, aiming her guitar straight towards him. Mr Y predicts what she is about to do so he aggressively punches one of the buttons on his device, glaring back at her with amusement in his eyes.

"Aaaaaaaaa!" Cherry screams as several hundred volts of electricity spark from the machine, sending a detrimental shock through her body. She falls then crashes down onto the ground.

"NO!" Adam shouts at the top of his lungs.

"Get her out of here!" Shiva orders, kicking the leg of the machine once again to cover for him. Adam quickly lifts Cherry to safety off the ground, just in time before the other leg of the machine strikes the spot where she just fell. Unsure whether she is alive or dead, Adam carefully carries her in his arms to one side.

"Baby, please…" His eyes water as he tries everything possible to resuscitate her.

Blaze also crawls forward to help them.

"Ahh!" Adam groans when he tries to lift off Cherry's guitar which is now broken into pieces. It is charged with current and causes an electric spark that shocks his hand.

"It's ok, I'll move it…" Blaze reassures him. She then checks the girl's pulse and listens to her breathing.

"I should never have let her come here…." Adam kneels on the ground next to Cherry's body with his hands over his face, full of regret."

"It's ok… she's still alive!" Blaze gives him a relieved nod. "But you have to keep her warm. The shock and the fall must have knocked her out. Make sure that she doesn't move when she wakes up, that fall was pretty hard. Keep her head raised up to maintain the flow of blood… she's gonna be ok, stay here with her."

"Not so fast, bitch!" Estel shouts as Ms Y locks eyes with Adam in the distance. As she tries to follow them from the centre of the roof, the blond heroine somersaults forward then tightly headlocks her. This causes their enemy to drop her sword. Ms Y however, counterattacks by backing her elbow into Estel's stomach. She then takes the opportunity to reach for her sword, grabbing Estel by the hair. "I never liked you either bitch!" Ms Y snarls as she slices her blade across Estel's thigh. The fighter immediately screams in pain, falling to the ground.

"Now you're finished!" Ms Y glares down at her with anger as she starts to swing her weapon towards Estel's neck. Unexpectedly, Max turns away from the machine then runs forward just in the nick of time. He slides and uses the side of his body to crash into Ms Y in order to save Estel. The antagonist immediately topples over from the impact which gives Max the chance to place Estel's arm over his shoulder so that he can lift her to safety.

"I'm fine! It's just a cut!" Estel grits her teeth through the pain, desperate to continue fighting.

"No you're not!" Max insists. As he rushes her to one side, he feels the force of the machine's leg hitting his back. This causes both Max and Estel to fly forward through the air until Max's body hits one of the pillars in the distance on the way down. The two fighters lie next to each other broken and barely able to move.

"It's just you and me now, old timer," Floyd says to Shiva. The two of them stand by each leg of the device, simultaneously attacking the machine whilst fighting Ms Y's assault at the same time. What makes matters worse is that the controls of the device are unpredictable so the two of them can only tell where each leg will strike at the last minute.

Shiva has no choice but to turn and face Ms Y with an array of fast kicks that light up the air. Her sword and his fist mirror each other in the battle, both cutting sharply and creating energy through the air.

"AAAA!" Floyd suddenly shouts in agony, realising that Mr Y has raised both of the machine's legs high up in the air before they come crashing down as one force into his body. Part of the impact rips through Floyd's mechanical arm, forcing it to fly off whilst injecting an electric shock through the rest of his body. Shiva quickly fires a small lightning bolt towards Ms Y's chest which causes her to stumble back. He then runs as fast as possible back towards the machine in order to move Floyd to safety before he is crushed any further.

"Ahahahaha!" Mr Y chuckles at the controls. "Just our syndicate traitor remains then. You chose the wrong side to fight on, buddy".

Shiva glares back at him with anger as he carefully lowers Floyd who is badly injured out of the way.

"If your new friends aren't dead already, I'll finish them off!" Ms Y gives him a sinister grin whilst pointing the tip of her sword in the air. It glistens in the sun and is stained with the blood of his friends.

"You're on your own now! I hope you're ready to die!" Mr Y aggressively flicks at the controls once more.

"No he ain't!"

To their relief, another familiar voice echoes nearby.

"Axel?!" Max painfully glances up as he lies injured on the ground.

He then charges forward with his fists on fire, crashing an uppercut into one of the mechanical legs. Shiva follows his lead, using his jump and kicks to attack the same leg further up. Axel is then forced to use his dragon wing as a defence as soon as Ms Y tries to blitz forward with her sword.

"We can cause more damage with our powers, look…" Axel says to Shiva, both of them now out of breath.

"But we'll drain our energy!" He shakes his head. The pair continue to battle with the machine, palms and legs now bruised and bleeding but it is all too much having to fight Ms Y at the same time.

"I don't see any other way…"

"Leon!" Blaze shouts, noticing him searching for her in the distance.

He runs straight over towards her, concerned as soon as he sees Cherry lying unconscious on the floor.

"Are you ok?" She tightly hugs him.

"I'm ok mom!"

"Listen, I need you to stay here and keep Cherry warm with your fire. She's badly injured and shocked at the moment. You know what to do…. if she stops breathing again…"

"Ok," he nods.

"Come on, we have to go now…" Blaze reaches for Adam's arm, encouraging him to let go of Cherry. "They need our help, I have an idea…"

"I can't…" he shakes his head with tears in his eyes.

"It's ok, Leon is gonna stay with Cherry. He's the best person to look after her, if anybody understands electric shocks and injuries, it's him…. Trust me, she's gonna be ok".

Reluctantly, Adam lets his daughter go then the two fighters cautiously walk forward towards the centre of the roof.

"Well isn't this nostalgic! My father's four worst enemies!" Ms Y comments. She appears blood stained, burnt and bruised from head to toe but still with all the determination in her eyes to kill. Suddenly she is caught off guard when she feels the impact of a green force of energy, radiating with fire and electricity that crashes straight into her chest. Both Adam and Blaze glance at each other with confusion as to where the energy bolt came from. They then glance back at Leon who catches his breath on the ground next to Cherry.

"30 feet was close enough, I'm just protecting Cherry" he innocently shrugs.

They give him a brief smile before walking across to Ms Y who is lying defeated with her back on the ground.

Blaze then crouches down next to her, glancing at her enemy with pity. "Looks like someone got beaten by a 10 year old again."

"I HATE YOU!" Ms Y screams.

"Wanna know how I killed your father hmmm?"

"Blaze, don't" Adam shakes his head.

She then holds up an electrical orb of energy above Ms Y's face.

"Please don't…" she starts to beg for her life. Ms Y tightly shuts her eyes whilst Blaze's energy crashes onto the ground next to her, breaking her sword in half.

"It's your lucky day, I'm not going to kill you. But you get to spend the rest of your life in prison!" Blaze then strikes her around the face, knocking her enemy out cold.

"Sister! No!" Mr Y frantically hits button after button, thinking that his twin is now dead.

"What was that idea of yours then?" Adam queries.

As the two of them approach the centre of the roof, they witness Axel and Shiva struggling to keep hold of their energy which is depleting against the machine with each passing second.

"Blaze, get back!" Axel worriedly shouts as his fist continues to crash into one side of the device. Ignoring his advice, she steps into the centre, glaring up at Mr Y from the ground.

"Stop the machine!" Blaze shouts up, locking eyes with him.

"You're either brave or stupid!" He replies.

"I said stop the machine!" Blaze insists.

"Get back! He'l kill you!" Adam shouts. Both he and Shiva try to hold down one of the legs of the device using all the strength they have whilst Axel pins down the other.

"I can't hold it anymore…!" Shiva shouts.

Using any energy she has left, Blaze then cusps together her palms, creating another small blue orb of chi. Mr Y can't help but stare down at her in awe as she begins to levitate a couple of feet off the floor, slowly rising higher and higher through the air. The blue flowered pattern of energy that surrounds her body is beautiful but deadly at the same time.

"Follow my lead!" She shouts from above.

Suddenly, there is a blinding light as she attacks Mr Y's machine straight through its core. The projection of Blaze's energy sends punishing electrical sparks through it's centre that also travels through Mr Y's body. The legs of the device immediately start to stomp out of control.

"Now!" Axel yells.

Adam's sword strike then cripples the base of it's left leg whilst Shiva executes a double final crash, full of lightning that cracks the centre of the device underneath Mr Y, causing him to fly out of his seat.

Axel's Dragon Burst is the final element of the team's attack where he engulfs himself in flames then launches a tornado of fire that completely shuts down the rest of the machine.

He then has to act fast, quickly running to the centre to catch Blaze as she falls from high up once her energy is depleted. Her back crashes down into his chest as he takes the impact of her fall against the ground whilst the two of them topple backward.

"Are you ok?" Axel worriedly asks.

Blaze gives him a painful smile back. "We did it…" she quietly says, out of breath but full of relief.

"Because of you. You're crazy, you know that? That's why I love you so much…" He says with his arms still wrapped around her. Suddenly his smile fades as soon as he feels the amount of blood under her jacket around her waist.

"I… I don't know if we're gonna…" she struggles to talk, frowning through the pain where the wound on her side has now got worse.

"Hey, don't say that! We made it this far. I'm not gonna lose you again or this baby you hear me?"

Axel glances around at everybody else who is lying injured, trying his best to stop the bleeding wound by removing then using his overshirt to compress it.

Their surroundings are now so silent in contrast to the last few minutes that you could even hear a pin drop. Smoke from the broken machine clouds around whilst low fires that remain from Axel's finishing move are scattered all over the roof.

"If I can get past those flames to Estel's radio, we can get backup flown out…" His back rests against one of the pillars whilst Blaze sits on the ground with her back against him so that the two of them keep each other warm.

"Please don't move…" Blaze gulps, starting to panic.

"Just hang on and keep your eyes open, you're gonna be ok…promise me?" His tone is one of encouragement and desperation.

"I promise," she nods through the pain. "Hey, did you feel that kick?" She then looks back at him feeling more hopeful.

"Yeah," he gives her a comforting smile back. "I told you she takes after you. You know why? Cos you're a survivor and you're gonna get through this. And I've always got your back, remember that…" He instantly has a flashback of the night they had their first ever real conversation looking over the city when they made that promise to one another.

The two of them suddenly look at each other surprised when they hear a sweet voice in the distance beyond the smoke. "Request for backup... Please?... Hello?" Leon asks, slightly puzzled.

"Hey kid! Get your hands off my radio!" Estel shouts. "... Backup requested….. …I know Sir, I'm on the ground injured along with the rest of my team. The kid was the only one who could reach for this thing as it fell out my pocket….. Yes!... Target is defeated and I even have two gifts for you to put away in prison….. Now for the last fucking time, Backup Requested!" Estel yells through the radio.

The other members of the team who are conscious look to her with hope in their eyes that someone is coming to rescue them.

"Iraia, you lucky son of a bitch! Your father is 20 minutes away on the chopper!" Estel informs Floyd who is lying on his front next to her. He gives her a relieved smile back as the team lay on the ground, battered and exhausted whilst they patiently wait for help to arrive.

"Estel? Why are you always so grumpy?" Suddenly another sweet voice calls out.

"Cherry?!" Estel gratefully smiles, lying on her side through the pain. She then crawls forward using her arms and her better leg towards the teenager.

"Are you ok Cherry?"

"I can't move right now, but I'll be fine…" She reassures her.

"You took a pretty hard fall back there. That was stupid but you got balls girl! You had us all worried there for a moment, I've never witnessed your dad cry like that before…"

The rest of the team glance over towards Adam and Shiva who are both passed out next to each other after depleting all of their chi against the machine.

"It's a shame that your dad is snoozing at the moment. When he wakes up, we can remind him of how much of a goof ball he really is…" Cherry and Estel laugh together.

"I don't know about you guys, but I feel like this whole fortress just came crashing down on my head…" Max is next to open his eyes.

"It was that pillar that knocked you out, old man!" Floyd chuckles.

"Thanks for saving my ass back there by the way, Max!" Estel grins. "And as for you Stone, what the hell took you so long?!" She frowns.

"Look, I've done the most fighting out of everybody here today! Don't switch on me Aguirre…" Axel shrugs.

"He's right, lady! Now all the bad guys are dead!" Leon defends his dad with pride.

"Except for these two assholes who are knocked out cold. They won't be awake for hours…!" Estel laughs, glancing over towards the twins.

"Hey Blaze, you ok?" She shouts from a distance "her eyes are starting to close…"

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me. Help is almost here…" Axel says in her ear, still trying his best to limit the bleeding.

"I'm so tired…" Blaze quietly replies, resting the back of her head against his chest.

"Just keep talking to me, we'll get out of here soon I promise…" he gulps, knowing that they need medical assistance fast.

Estel can't help but glance at Leon sitting next to her and Cherry with tears in his eyes.

"Hey Blaze?! Remember that time you kicked my ass?!" Estel shouts.

"Yeah… you deserved it…" Blaze smiles, trying her best to keep her eyes open.

"That's it, keep talking to us…. She's gonna be ok" Estel winks, taking Leon's hand to reassure him.

"You know, this time I'm the one saving your asses! That chopper should be here any minute now. Maybe you lovebirds could name that baby after me this time since Leon here is named after Kempo King…. It's only fair!" Estel jokes.

"Hell no!" Axel dismisses her suggestion.

They anxiously wait until Estel's radio pings once again.

"They're less than 5 minutes away now!" She informs the others with hope in her eyes before continuing. "Yeah, it's pretty bad….. One 16 year old girl, several broken bones and burns following electrocution. One female adult, 5 months pregnant, stab-wound and losing blood, one adult male- likely severe concussion and a bullet in his left shoulder, plus we have an injured young male 3 miles away with another gunshot wound… would you like me to continue?... I'm not even finished and the chopper is already here!"

The team glance up at the sky, holding onto every last hope that they have remaining. The battle might be over, but the toll it has left on each fighter is likely to last for a very long time.