Chapter 18

7 years ago,

Salzberg, Austria

"How was your flight, Mr Shiva?" A short, thin bald headed man opened the silver Bentley car door for the fighter to step out. Shiva took a moment to remove his shades to admire the scene of the calm crystal blue lake with stunning mountain views behind it. Mr X had hidden his wealth in many places, but he figured that a large sum of it had to have been splashed out here. There was top security all around, a private estate, home tutors and chefs. Anything the boss's family wanted, they had with one click of their fingers.

"It wasn't too bad," he answered.

The man then led Shiva through a gated entrance surrounded by five armed bodyguards. They entered a beautiful white mansion which boasted the most extravagant open hallway that led out to a courtyard. Typically this is where parties and gatherings would take place, whilst most of the living quarters were situated up a grand flight of stairs on the other side.

Shiva stood there, patiently waiting to be summoned. A woman in her mid 30s stepped forward in smart casual attire, likely to have been the housekeeper of the place.

"Sir, would you like to follow me this way? The masters of the house are ready to see you…"

Masters? How old fashioned… Shiva thought to himself. Then again, the set of walls he passed on the way to the courtyard consisted of old mediaeval statues and paintings. This couldn't have been any more further than his own taste in collectables.

Once he was outside, Shiva approached a young boy and a girl in their early teens who were sitting in the sunshine. The courtyard boasted immaculately cut grass with rows of flowers, somewhere that even royalty would have been content with. The calm mountainous air in the distance and cool breeze was refreshing underneath the Summer sun and their surroundings were silent for miles.

The young girl with very fair hair was sitting on a chair fidgeting with a thin fencing sword. Mr X's children were involved in every kind of extra-curricular activity you could imagine to keep them busy and entertained, but Shiva could tell that this girl enjoyed the old sport. Her twin was completely different, however. He was dressed in what appeared to be a brown school-like uniform and he held onto a couple of Science books by his side.

It was clear that Shiva's presence was interrupting their afternoon with whatever they were doing, but this meeting needed to go ahead.

The two children distastefully stared at their father's old bodyguard from head to toe as he approached them. Then the boy was the first to speak, delving in straight to the point.

"So, have you discovered father's body yet?" His tone was cold and crude.

Shiva who stood opposite gave the boy a guilty sigh of regret, shaking his head.

"You're not much of a bodyguard then are you? You don't even know if he is alive or not, although it's unlikely", the girl was next to speak up.

"I know you both are worried about your father, but…"

Before Shiva could finish his sentence, the boy rudely interrupted once again.

"In the event of our father's death, it is your responsibility to take over the Syndicate and to secure our funds before we turn 18. Our future lies in your hands, but I am not a single bit pleased about that!"

Shiva paused for a moment, biting his tongue.

"I understand your concerns, but rest assured that your finances are secure and the police force is not willing to put that under any investigation…"

"I would hope so!" The girl snapped. "Now go, and don't bother coming back here until you have found our father. Dead or alive," she coldly stared. Her blue eyes were piercing and the twins together felt menacing, even for the grown adult fighter who was double their age.

Shiva bowed his head then he paced backwards to leave.

The boy then unexpectedly clapped his hands. Within seconds, another bodyguard wearing a grey skulled mask with robotic metal legs stomped forward. He was tightly holding onto a metal pole in one hand.

Shiva remained cautious and ready to fight as he had no recognition of who or what was in front of him.

Mr Y gave him a sinister smile. "This is my own invention, Koobo. He used to be a man but we engineered him so that he is now half cyborg. He can manipulate any metallic object he wants…. Show him" the teenage boy nodded at the strange entity.

Suddenly, the ground underneath Shiva subtably shook as a metallic silver statue of a mediaeval guard in the courtyard rose up in the air then flew forward towards him, stopping abruptly in front of Shiva's face. He barely flinched, but he was uncertain for a moment at where this was going.

Koobo then reached out one of his gloved hands, then the statue violently flew back towards the cyborg until the back of it crashed into his fist. The rusted old collectible was left with a large smoked dent in its back, now brought down to scrap metal laying on the grass. Koobo stood there tall by Mr Y's side in his own fighting stance.

"What do you think huh? You should have seen your own face!" The young boy heckled at Shiva.

"It's different, I'll give you that…" Shiva's eyes widened.

"Hmmm… you know, my father had similar robotic plans for other humans including Dr Zan in the past. Just think, we could have our own cyborg army of 'volunteers' if we were able to control their minds to do this. You'd make a pretty good robot yourself!" He joked, although the boy's underlying tone was serious.

Shiva forced a smile back. "You know me, I prefer to fight with my own fists rather than any metal."

"I think you should make an effort to learn more. Our father was very keen on this project," Ms Y grinned. "Why don't you go and check out our next phase at our secret labs in the desert? Big Ben will take you there, you and our board of directors have much to discuss for our future." As she finished her sentence, two rounded men wearing red baseball caps stepped forward to escort Shiva off of the premises.


The flight back to America was pretty uneventful to say the least. By the time Shiva and Big Ben exited from McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, any sleep the fighter was hoping for after a long journey now seemed impossible.

They were still far from Wood Oak City and this place couldn't have been anywhere further than the peace and tranquillity that Shiva was craving for right now. To his relief, they quickly drove past the bustling 3am streets that were glamorously lit up by neon lights, accompanied by the sound of late night slot machines with clanging coins.

"Fancy a bet?" Big Ben chuckled next to him at the back of the car.

"It's not really my thing…" Shiva's response was brief and to the point as he avoided Big Ben's eye contact.

"Your loss! Lucky for you, we're passin' the strip to somewhere more dead than this. But on the way back I think I'll take a gamble," he smirked.

Two hours later and the glitz and glam of Vegas were a distant memory. They had been driven far away, deeper into the desert where there was nothing around for miles except for the odd main road. Shiva wasn't the talkative type, so he mainly sat at the back watching the dawn appear on the horizon.

Eventually they pulled up outside a barbed wired area that was gated off in the middle of the desert, far from the rest of the public. Their driver named Gold, pressed his thumb onto a security monitor at the barrier before their car was given the all clear to enter. "What is this place?" Shiva asked, curious at why the twins insisted on him being brought here.

"One of Mr X's goldmines! You'll see…" Big Ben chuckled.

They stepped out of the car then entered a highly secured complex. It was modern, state of the art and impeccably clean inside compared to the dusty barren land on its exterior. In the 2 years that Shiva worked for the Syndicate, his role was purely to serve Mr X as his bodyguard and right hand man. To protect him and to remain by his side as his loyal soldier on guard for any dangers. All of the politics, the finances and the board of directors that the Syndicate controlled had little to no relevance according to Shiva. But here he was, standing in front of two of Mr X's Senior Directors who controlled the Syndicate's business affairs and finances.

"Leon Shiva, it's such a pleasure to finally see you again," a tall, caucassian American man in his late 40's with a muscular build and silver grey hair extended one hand. "You probably don't remember me but I am…."

"I know who you are." Shiva interrupted. "It was my job to remember anyone who came into contact with Mr X. It's surprising however to see you amongst the board of directors, Wayne. You never struck me as the business type. I thought that you only stuck to fighting outside downtown bars?" Shiva recalled the last time he spotted the guy participating in one of the underground fighting pits at Barbon's Bar.

Wayne gave him back a callous smile. "Well a man can't fight forever. This is my retirement plan and even though the boss is dead, his children have requested that we continue the Syndicate's plans into the future".

"Is that so?" Shiva raised an eyebrow.

"Ay. And for some strange reason, Mr X declared in his will that you lead this organisation until his children turn 18…" Wayne casually shrugged, still smiling over his underlying disappointment.

Shiva shook his head. "Yeah well, that's probably because he knew I was never the one interested in the business side of it all or the money…"

"Whether you like it or not, you'll have to be for the next 5 years or so!" Wayne winked at him sarcastically.

"So what's this big project then? That I've been dragged all the way out here to see?"

"Follow me…."

As Shiva walked with him deeper into the complex, he could hear the sounds of screaming animals. This shook his hard, serious exterior to his core when he witnessed caged dogs, cats, racoons and even the odd kangaroo or two as they passed several labs.

"What's with the zoo in here?" Shiva cautiously asked.

The other Senior director, who was a female dressed in a smart black pencil skirt and shirt under her lab coat, responded to him. "We are carrying out ground breaking research into the art of mind control using sound waves. This is our biggest project yet!" The lady in her late 40s spoke with enthusiasm in her voice, however Shiva didn't approve of this one single bit. He could see what they were doing here was wrong and unethical on so many levels.

"Mind if I use the bathroom? It's been a long journey," the fighter politely asked as the group stepped into a control room.

"Sure. It's the first room on the left, but you'll be needing this…" Wayne replied as he pulled out his key card.

"Thanks!" Shiva smiled as he stepped closer to take it.

Unexpectedly, he caught Wayne off guard where Shiva's foot effortlessly circled mid air, striking his old colleague hard in the jaw. Wayne stumbled back as the female director panicked in shock after witnessing Shiva's flaming kick. Wayne fell back against a metallic trolley but as expected, he was quick to jump straight up to his feet. His long leg almost caught the top of Shiva's head as he delivered a strong roundhouse kick.

"Boss, what the hell are you doing?" Wayne heavily breathed as he charged forward with an array of punches. One caught Shiva heavily in the chest after his arms gave way from blocking Wayne's powerful hits.

"I'm doing something I should have done a long time ago!"

Although Wayne was the taller and stronger fighter of the two, Shiva had more technique, speed and agility. He blitzed forward, pressing his weight into his palms on the floor before somersaulting like lightning through the air.

"Final Crash!"

Shiva's attack landed hard into Wayne's ribs, causing the fighter to fall and tumble into one of the circuit boards. It immediately sent a shockwave of electricity through his body.

By now, the female director was screaming with one hand over her mouth. Shiva then illuminated a white orb of energy in one hand that he held up in front of her.

"You're gonna do exactly what I say so that we get past security without any problems, understood?" He probed.

"Yes…" she vigorously shook her head.

The first thing Shiva did was cut off the main power supply into the building. He then forced her to lock the door of the control room from the outside, leaving Wayne lying there helplessly. As the two of them looked back, neither were sure whether or not he was still alive. Shiva then ordered the woman to unlock each of the remaining labs. In the space of 5 minutes, he rescued as many animals as he could, taking their crates and loading them into the back of one of the trucks outside.

"What the fuck is going on?" Big Ben questioned as he and Gold stood by the entrance in disbelief.

"You follow my orders don't you?" Shiva glared.

"Yeah….?"

"Well, take as many crates as you can and load that truck!"

"But the bosses…." without a second thought, Shiva projected two orbs of energy from each palm that each flew straight into Big Ben and Gold. He then took the gun that Gold had been carrying.

"Load the back of the truck", Shiva demanded as the suited bodyguard glanced up at him painfully clutching onto his stomach,

"Don't make me repeat myself!" Shiva shouted at his colleague. By now, Big Ben was knocked out and heavily bleeding from his torso.

After the animals from the lab were loaded into the truck, Gold closed the doors then stared back at Shiva with blood on his hand. "I think Ben and I gotta see a medic…"

Shiva's response was to quickly silence him by breaking his neck from behind. The woman next to him screamed out once again as she tried to run for help.

"Please don't shoot me!" She said holding up her hands whilst Shiva remained holding onto Gold's old gun.

He then emptied and threw the firearm onto the ground to her relief. But Shiva couldn't let anybody from this place get out alive, so he projected another heavy orb of energy that quickly sent the woman to her death. "I don't like to use guns anyway, they're pointless," he remarked as he kicked away the fallen weapon next to her body.

Shiva then drove, alone, all the way to the gated entrance with the animals at the back of the truck in their crates.

"Where do you think you're going with this?" One of the armed security guards asked. Before he could finish his sentence, Shiva violently drove the truck through the barriers then out into the open.

He reached for his phone once he had escaped. "Sister, you're all clear to make your move…. I'll send you the location of the labs I've just come from. Clean all the evidence and make sure nobody left gets out alive!"

"I'll be there in 10 minutes", Rudra replied on the other side of the line as she stood by her motorbike on a rocky hill, using her binoculars to look out into the distance.


8 hours later.

"Jesus Christ Leon! You certainly know how to plan a smooth exit!"

"Get inside now!" Shiva dragged Rudra forward by the arm through the door. He cautiously glanced left and right, but as far as he could see, nobody was around nor had followed her into the old motel.

Shiva could see that Rudra had been fighting. Her jacket was bloodstained as was the handle of her sword. But if anyone could make a quick, clean kill and cover her tracks, it was his sister. Rudra was a trained, skilled assassin that had been assigned to many killings in East Asia, including politicians. Whatever security and surveillance that had been left earlier at this lab was simply a walk in the park in comparison.

"Brother, I know you would have loved a dog when we were kids but there's gotta be at least 20 up in here!" The kunoichi defeatedly sighed with her hands on her hips as she scanned around the room. Most of the canines were puppies who excitedly jumped and scratched on her jeans for attention, whilst some of the older dogs perched themselves behind the couch, too scared to greet her.

"The vet is stopping by in the morning, we're gonna try and rehome these guys. The woman who owns the motel volunteered with the cats and I even found a place for the two infant kangaroos on the way out here. They are now in captivity in that same place where they took Roo…."

"Great work!" Rudra nodded. "Look, I get it, I really do! Anyone with a heart would want what's best for these animals…" she sighed, staring down at the ground with guilt.

"But….?" Shiva raised an eyebrow.

"But turning on your people like that? That ain't gonna go down well, especially since Mr X left you to run his empire!" She folded her arms with pessimism in her tone as she shook her head.

"Well I don't want it! I never signed up to be a businessman or a politician. And besides, it would have only been a matter of time until one of those power hungry thugs tried to kill me. Or even better, the twins would have wanted me dead in a heartbeat if I ran the show. This way I've saved them all the headache…" Shiva argued.

"You realize that you'll only be confined to Chinatown now if the twins find out about this! It's the only safe place in Wood Oak where they can't touch you!"

"Hmmm…" Shiva paced up and down the room, past the bed and the sheets where the dogs and puppies were laying. "When you returned to the Syndicate lab, did you find any incriminating evidence against them?"

Rudra shook her head. "Nothing suggested anything about mind controlling devices you spoke of. Just a regular animal testing unit…"

"What about anything from the directors there?"

"Nah, I just cleaned up after you left… I thought there was only one there. And you smoked her good!"

"No! Wayne was in there too…"

"Shit!" Rudra's eyes widened with surprise. "His body wasn't there when I cleaned up!" She panicked.

"Then he's still alive. We have to find him before he reaches out to the twins!"

Suddenly, Shiva's cell phone started to vibrate with an unknown number behind the call. For a moment, he and Rudra stared at one another unsure of what to do, but the caller wouldn't hang up. Eventually Shiva gave in and he answered the call.

On the other side of the line spoke a young male voice, the type of voice that had just been broken. It was Mr Y, and he wasn't impressed after what had happened to their lab earlier. His words to Shiva were clear and simple.

"Keep hiding like the dog you are. You haven't seen the end of us!" He angrily spat before hanging up.


Present Day (7 years later).

Shiva sat peacefully on the roof terrace of his own dojo high above Chinatown. Like each day, he followed a strict routine of training and meditation and at the end of it all, he rewarded himself with half an hour of sipping on Chinese tea whilst he observed the Wood Oak City sunset in the distance. Next to him was his beloved 7 year old Golden Retriever, Kaya. She was now getting older, but Shiva regretted nothing about the day when he rescued her as a puppy from the Syndicate lab. He had given her a good life so far.

As he stroked her soft golden coat, Shiva remembered the struggle of the past 7 years. He worked hard to grow his reputation and he had drastically changed since the days of working under Mr X. Shiva was now known as the Grand Master of Chinatown. He had built a legitimate empire here, training fighters who now worked for him as security. He also gave as much as he could back to the local community, who respected him and would protect him in the blink of an eye if the New Syndicate dared to start a war here.

During that time, Shiva opened his own restaurant, dojo as well as six animal shelters across the city. He was desperate to make up for the crimes and havoc that he was once part of. Shiva understood that, although he couldn't change the past, he could build a future that had purpose and meaning.

"Brother, sorry to disturb you…" Rudra appeared behind him.

"What's wrong?" Shiva frowned.

"It's Blaze…."

"I told you, no one goes in that room or lets her out until I say so! She's dangerous and wants me dead."

"It's not that. You'd better come and see this for yourself…." she replied.


Author's Notes

Greetings! Sorry it's been a few weeks since the last chapter but I thought this would be a nice point in the story to continue to bridge game 3 into game 4 as this story is based on that 10 year timeline. We have already seen part of Floyd's journey, but for a long time now I have really wanted to write about how Shiva might have 'became the good guy'. I wanted to keep that close to the synopsis of the game, hence you can see in this chapter his love of animals.

Since Streets of Rage Remake was made between the official #3 and #4, I thought it would be a good point in the story to place Rudra Shiva as a supporting character as Shiva would have needed some help.

Hope you enjoyed this one and another different kind of chapter in the book!