Chapter 22

It didn't take long for Axel to make himself comfortable with his feet up on the coffee table.

"Do you mind?" Adam glared, giving him a pissed off look.

"What's wrong with you? I thought you'd be happy to see me?" Axel frowned with a shrug.

The truth was, the reception from Adam towards him was cold and full of hostility. It wasn't quite the welcome that Axel had expected.

"You can sleep on that couch until the morning. Then I want you gone!"

"What? Why?" Axel stood to his feet, surprised.

"I got Cherry coming back from her mom's in the morning and it's not safe for her if you remain here…"

"Look, I heard about what's goin' on in the city. That's why I'm back! If anyone tries to pull any stunts I'm here to fight and I wanna help."

"I think you should leave first thing in the morning…." Adam insisted, avoiding his gaze.

"You know what? I'll save you the trouble!" Axel hastily stood to his feet then headed for the front door.

Reluctantly, Adam bit his tongue then he started to feel guilty. Afterall, it had been years since he'd seen or heard from the guy he grew up with who was practically like a brother. Axel had been selfish and in some ways wreckless for leaving for so long, but he had his reasons and good intentions.

"Wait..." Adam paused as Axel approached the door. "Look, it's been years and I never expected you to just turn up out of the blue like that! We had no idea if you were alive or dead!"

"I'm sorry. And I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to show up. I got so much to tell you though and show you! As soon as I found out what was going on here I wanted to help".

Adam sighed, unsure whether or not to feel relieved or angry with Axel. Part of him still hated the fact that Axel left things the way they were. He was angry at everything that unfolded in his absence, but in Axel's defence, the guy had no idea what had happened to Blaze or the fact that she was even pregnant.

So Adam swallowed his pride and placed his own feelings to one side. "To be honest, we could really use your help right now, things aren't so great around here," he said.

"That's why I'm here!" Axel nodded.

"Sit down…" Adam gestured towards the couch as the two friends sat opposite one another. He then popped open a couple of bottles of beer.

"So… how have you been? What was life like in the wilderness then?" Adam awkwardly asked as he sipped on his own drink.

"It was… eye opening. I don't even know where to begin! Adam, there's so much I can show you that I found, it's crazy man! The fighter I was… I was empty. I had to do it…"

"I understand", Adam shallowly nodded.

"But, being back here, it brings back so many memories. I just wanna help you and the others again," Axel explained.

Adam however, remained quiet and full of regret. The truth was, he was the one who didn't know where to start and was completely unprepared for Axel's arrival.

"Listen, I gotta wait for Sammy to text me back. Him and his friends found some info on the Y-twins, I just need his location then we can go…."

"So what are those two fuckers like then?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

"They're ruthless, just like their father. And they control most of the city now. The reality is, we defeated Mr X a long time ago, but we never diminished the Syndicate. They've now taken over and we're right back to square one…" he pessimistically shook his head.

"Just like old times then!" Axel grinned.

"One thing's for sure! Now that you're back, those two motherfuckers don't know what's about to hit them" Adam let off a grin before the two of them clanged their bottles together.

"I've really missed this, you know," Axel replied. There was a brief moment of silence between them as Adam's smile faded, glancing down towards the ground.

"So….. how's Blaze then?" Axel threw the question out there that they were both anticipating.

"She's ok…" Adam bluntly answered, keen to steer the conversation away, however Axel persisted.

"So what does she think about what's going on here then?"

"I don't know. Blaze moved away a couple of years back," Adam shrugged, taking another sip of his beer.

"I see." Axel nodded with disappointment in his voice. "What is she married? Kids?"

Adam avoided his eye contact once again. "Like I said, I don't know! Blaze and I stopped talking a long time ago…."

"The day after I left, I saw you both outside the apartment. I wanted to come back but…" Axel paused before continuing "...was she ok?"

Adam then took a deep sigh, "a lot of shit went down after you left us. Blaze was in a bad way… Like I said, I haven't heard anything in years from her…"

"What shit went down…?" Axel asked, feeling concerned.

Suddenly, Adam's phone pinged, interrupting their conversation. "It's Sammy! We need to move!"


Adam pulled over the car just past the construction site where Sammy had sent him the location. As Axel stepped out, he peered up at the site with amusement on his face. "I remember this place! And after all these years, they still never built anything on it?"

"We trashed it in the fight, remember? You and that robot lookalike of yours burnt the whole thing down. Then they started again from scratch, but the city council abandoned the project after just a year. Apparently the land belonged to that buddy of yours, Leon Shiva", Adam sarcastically explained, feeling nostalgic.

"What happened to him then?"

"To the police and the syndicate, that motherfucker disappeared off the face of the earth. But my sources tell me he's running his own organisation in Chinatown."

"Good for him," Axel nodded with approval as the two of them slid closed the door to the outside elevator.

"Axel?! What the….!"

As soon as they stepped out onto the roof, Sammy excitedly ran forward to hug Axel as soon as he recognised his face.

"Damn, you've got taller. And you've finally grown your own beard!" Axel teased, happy to be reunited with him.

"I could say the same thing to you about that beard… you've changed man!" Sammy replied.

"I know!" he grinned.

"Let's save the catch up talk for later, where are they then?" Adam interrupted.

"Right this way…" Sammy answered, still pissed off with Adam after their phone call earlier.

Up on the roof, there were two other familiar faces. Electra and Gloria sat down back to back near the ledge, both tied to their chairs.

"Well, well, well, isn't this quite the surprise!" Electra raised one eyebrow as soon as she spotted her old enemies approaching. Sammy's team, consisting of four other rollerskaters, were heavily guarding the area. Night after night, their crew kept their eyes and ears on the streets. This group was one of the more recent vigilante gangs in town, keeping a low profile.

"You ain't changed a single bit, have you Ellie? Just a few more wrinkles here and there, but…" Axel folded his arms in front of her.

"For a minute there I couldn't even recognise you! You've let yourself go haven't you…?" she dug back.

"Remember this?" Axel replied, holding up a flame from his palm in front of her.

"Ok, that's enough!" Adam interrupted, untying the two former dominatrices from their chairs.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Sammy shouted with panic.

"I'm sorry about this," Adam apologised to the two women.

"Adam, what the hell…?" Axel stared at him in shock for releasing their two former enemies.

"If you must know, these two now work for the SIF. They're on our payroll…"

"That's bullshit!" Sammy cursed back with anger. "Do you know how long it took us to find them?!"

"I'm sorry… ladies, you're free to go now," Adam gestured.

"What?!" Axel replied, stunned.

"Look, I'd rather slit the wrist I got left than work for those two spoilt brats!" Electra remarked as she rose to her feet, strutting away from the chair in her long leather blue boots.

Adam then cut in to explain further, "after the old syndicate depleted, many of their fighters who we captured ended up in prison. The Y-syndicate promised to wipe some of them out. Especially the ones who threatened to take over the organisation after Mr X died…"

"Yeah! Those twin assholes made three attempts on my life whilst I was inside…" Electra explained.

"So, we made them a deal they couldn't refuse. Ain't that right, Ellie?" Adam winked at her.

"Fuck you," she spat back.

"Love you too!" Adam laughed as the two ladies walked away.

Axel then stood in front of the elevator doorway, blocking them off. "Not so fast! So, what's this information then that you two have? Or are you two no longer useful? I wouldn't want you to get back down there without the elevator…."

"Are you threatening me?" Electra snarled.

"What happened to that electrical whip on your arm then? Don't tell me… you accidentally strangled yourself in bed? Or you took a bath with it? Or…"

"Shut the fuck up, Stone! I always hated you!"

"Nah, I think you always had a thing for me!" Axel smirked.

"Don't flatter yourself!... Look, if you boys want any more dirt on the twins, you'll have to look for Diva. She owns an art store on 34th street."

"That wasn't so bad then, was it?" Axel let off a sarcastic grin as he forced open the elevator doors for them.

"I can't believe it!" Sammy glared hatefully at his brother. "As always, why didn't anybody tell me a thing! We wasted a whole fucking night!"

"Just take your boys and go home!" Adam snarled.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Sammy gestured towards his friends.

By the time everyone exited the roof, as each of the elevator doors opened back down at the entrance to the site, they were greeted with several blue police lights flashing in the distance.

"Shit!" Adam punched the side of the elevator with annoyance under his breath. Then came the familiar voice of the officer he and Axel used to work with as soon as the doors on the ground floor opened.

"Trespassing? Breaking and entering? Street fighting? So what's it gonna be for your brother this time then, huh Hunter?" Tim snarled directly at the group, holding a shield and a batton.

"Stay the fuck away from my brother, Murphy!" Adam stood between his colleague and Sammy.

Tim cocked his head to one side, "or what?"

"Technically, you still work under me. So whatever you thought was going on here tonight? It never happened…" By now, both officers were squaring up to each other eye to eye.

Tim then smirked, noticing Axel stepping forward.

"You know what Hunter? You're right! I don't wanna jeopardise the investigation we got goin' on right now. And we're still a team right? Just like old times huh?" He patronisingly started to gently pat Adam over his chest.

"Let it go, he's not worth it. I'll take Sammy home…" Axel calmly said in Adam's ear.

"And what about you then, old partner? What has it been 10 years now, Stone?" Tim heckled.

"The only reason why your face isn't all over that trash can is because you used to be my old partner at the office, and I liked you. What happened to you? Was it the coke? Too bad that even after all these years, you're still Bernstein's bitch! I'll see you around…" Axel smirked as he turned to walk away.

"It's funny you say that! Because after you left, Fielding was my bitch!"

"...What did you just say?" Axel paused, glancing over his shoulder before turning back around to face Tim.

"I'm surprised your pal here never mentioned it. That's right, Blaze was my bitch!"

Without hesitation, Axel's fist landed hard under Tim's eye.

The two men then rushed forward to fight as Adam, along with Sammy and his friends tried their best to pull Axel back, whilst Tim's officers stepped between them to intervene.

"Arrest him! He just assaulted a senior officer!" Tim shouted.

"Fuck you, Murphy!" Axel shrugged off each officer who threatened him with their tasers. "Try to use that thing on me and you're dead!" The fighter warned.

"Let's get the fuck out of here! Like you said, he ain't worth it". This time, Adam was the one pulling Axel back.

"I'll see you in the office tomorrow, Hunter!" Tim laughed, hitting the palm of his hand with the baton as the team walked away.

"What the fuck is going on, Adam?" Axel questioned his friend, now worked up with his fists still clenched.

"The whole police force is corrupt once again. The twins own them! We need to find this Diva woman and we have to fix this for good! The police and the main precinct are in on everything the Syndicate are doing. Bernstein is the biggest crook of them all, and now he's making the SIF collab with them…..I have to get hold of Aguirre right away…"

"Aren't you two a thing anymore?"

"Not exactly…" Adam sighed.

"So? What the fuck happened to Blaze then? Why did she leave?" Axel insisted.

"I… er…. Look, she's on the run. Tim's got a warrant on her!"

"For what?!"

"For taking the law into her own hands…you know what Fielding is like. I hate to disappoint you but, we got more important shit to do and remember why your here. Blaze is long gone, probably somewhere back in England. I can help you find her but…"

"No! No, you're right" Axel replied. "We have a lot to do here, judging by the state this city is in right now. Besides, the last thing I wanna do is waltz back into Blaze's life and put her in any danger, especially if the feds here are after her….. So what's our next move then?"

"We find this woman, Diva, then we get hold of Max and the others. We're gonna need all the help we can get against them. They have plans of manipulating and enslaving innocent people."

"What? How?"

"Get in the car, I'll explain…."


Author's Note

So, the reunion has begun and at this point in the story, it is set just before the event's of the 4th game. I really wanted to bring Sammy and Electra into this part of the story, as both these major characters from the previous games were absent in SOR4. I wanted to give the readers some 'background' or idea of what they were up to in this part of the story with Sammy/ Skate still acting as a vigilante himself (even though his brother disapproves) and Electra now turning over a new leaf against the syndicate, similar to Shiva.

So, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please keep the feedback and reviews coming in, it means a lot as a writer and I can promise more is coming soon! :-).