Chapter 21

17 days is what it took.

Without a passport, means of transport or cash, Axel's journey back to Wood Oak City was just as challenging as it was when he'd left. The articles John had given him were a wake up call and a stark reminder of the other world that he had left behind. For almost a decade, Axel had lived a secluded life in a world of his own, dedicating his time and energy to his development as a person and as a fighter.

But John had a point.

What was the point of it all? It is a miracle to discover true strength well beyond one's limits, but what was it for?

Axel fully understood there would come a time when he would be required to fight again, however he had grown so used to life in the wilderness and solitude, that the thought of returning home felt unnatural. The person he used to be, the fighter he once was simply no longer existed. It was as if he was travelling to a place far away that he had never witnessed before. Axel had forgotten his former life and wasn't anywhere near ready for this.

The first four days of the journey were spent trekking through wild forest and terrain which was all too familiar. Day by day, the altitude would drop and the air quality and oxygen would change. Axel was more than capable by now of surviving on his own through barren lands, but what he was about to find unnerved him… civilisation.

He was almost speechless the day he arrived at one of the remote villages, similar to where John had now moved to. Children were playing in the fields, cows were grazing and women and men all stood still by their houses observing the stranger who passed their doors. Apart from Eru and John, this was the first time Axel had seen people in almost a decade. Then one young boy, around 10 years old, broke the ice when he offered the lone traveller his cup of water.

Famished and dehydrated, Axel carefully took it then he gave the boy a warm smile. The villagers here were kind and generous. They had offered him a place to stay, food and water in return for help on their farmlands. For those three nights, it felt strange sleeping in a normal bed. It also took a while to get used to hearing regular conversations and the sound of voices, even though their language wasn't in English.

Once he gained some energy back, Axel continued on with his journey on foot. By day 7, he passed a similar spot by the side of a mountain road where he had dumped the motorbike that assisted him on the way out. The days of the journey that followed were just as tough. Axel would try his luck hitchhiking his way North towards any town or city that was remotely close enough. And when Axel wasn't so lucky, the journey on foot continued for hours on end past many more similar villages.

Axel had ventured so far out into the wilderness, that even he didn't understand the land where he was standing. The more villages he would pass, the more populated they would become and Axel's transition back to normality was gradual.

On the 12th day, he managed to sneak his way onto a coach bus headed for the nearest town from another village. The carrier was half full with at least 20 other people on board. The driver himself was keen to avoid any trouble, so he ignored the fact that Axel took the liberty of a free ride.

Four hours into the journey and more people started to board, but still not enough to fill the whole bus. One group of backpackers consisting of three guys and two women sat in front of him. Throughout the long journey, they would regularly switch their conversation between French and English and were becoming louder and more drunk and unruly by the hour.

"Hey…!" Axel broke his silence after he had enough. "Hey, I'm talking to you…!"

The group's noisy conversation about their previous night immediately cut silent. Then one of the guys in his mid 20s, tanned with short blond hair rose to his feet. He arrogantly walked forward then replied, "can't you see I'm having a conversation here, dude?"

"Can't you see I'm tryna get some sleep here?!" Axel answered, now pissed off.

The man briefly turned his gaze towards his friends with a callous smirk on his face before turning back to respond. "Listen, old man. I couldn't give a fuck whether you were sleeping or taking a shit back there. It's a free country and I can talk, shout or do whatever the fuck I want!"

Within a split second, the young man heavily swung a punch forward towards Axel's face. To his surprise however, Axel didn't attempt to dodge it or block. He didn't even flinch. Instead, the man's fist ended up loudly smacking into the centre on Axel's palm which he held up just in time. For a moment, the man stood still in shock, knowing that the stunned he just pulled was a huge mistake. Axel then closed his fingers, crushing the guy's fist in his hand until he could hear the bones under the man's knuckles breaking.

He shrieked out, heavily breathing in pain until he fell to his knees. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry! I won't be a jackass from now on, I promise. Just let me go!... Please!"

The backpacker's friends sat still in shock staring at Axel as the bus driver continued on as if nothing had happened. Eventually, Axel loosened his grip and the young man returned to his seat. For the next three hours, the group was completely silent.

As the dawn emerged, the bus pulled over at a fuel station just off the highway. To Axel's surprise, the group wasted no time in practically sprinting off the bus. On his way out from the men's restroom, Axel could see the backpackers panicking by the edge of the highway.

"There's no fucking reception here! He needs to get to a hospital and nobody can speak English! I don't know what else to do!" One of the other guys remarked.

Feeling guilty and sorry for them, Axel cautiously approached the group.

"Hey! Stay back man, we don't want no more trouble!" One of the backpacker's warned, unnerved by his presence.

"Let me see his hand…" Axel replied, reaching out his palm.

"What?! You fucking broke it! Why the fuck would I….?" The same man who threw the punch replied, now worked up into a frenzy.

"You won't find a hospital around here for miles. Do you want my help or not?" Axel sighed.

10 minutes later and the young man's hand was clicked back into place with little effort then bandaged up.

"No hard feelings?" Axel asked.

The young man gave him a brief smile, "it was my fault anyway. I was drunk and was being an asshole for throwing that punch at you. I deserved it".

"We all make mistakes. I was once like you kid…" Axel laughed.

"No hard feelings." He smiled. "I'm Justin," the man introduced himself, extending his other hand. "That was pretty dope what you did back there by the way,"

"Thanks, I can show you how to do that if you want".

"Yeahhh!" The guy excitedly replied. "Hey, wanna come and party with us later on?" Another member of the group approached them.

"If it means a free shower, change of clothes and a beer… I don't see why not." Axel shrugged.

The following three days were fun, wild, crazy and couldn't have been any more opposite than Axel's last 10 years in isolation. They partied, got drunk, got high off weed and let loose like there was no tomorrow. One simple altercation had now turned into several friendships for life. The experience of it all gave Axel a brief reminder of his old, young self. The group ended up meeting more and more backpackers where 6 of them quickly became 30. They were all intrigued by the life Axel had been living over the last 10 years as well as his skills he had as a fighter.

One woman in the group called Lizzy, had instantly taken a shine to him. The next morning, the two of them woke up next to one another, unable to completely remember the night before.

"So, are you coming with us to Casta Island?" The short haired, slender brunette smiled as she reached down by the side of the bed for her crop top.

"I don't know…Actually, I have to go home eventually…" Axel grinned with a yawn, resting the back of his head against his palms on the pillow. Part of him wanted to stay, but deep down he knew that even though this was all fun, it was inevitably his way of running away from the prospect of returning home. The truth was that, for the first time, Axel was nervous. The thought of returning back to Wood Oak City after so long made him anxious to the point where he could feel his pulse elevating. A dozen questions ran through his head…. What has changed? What was going on there? What would the people he'd left behind think? How would they even react?

"Want some more, honey?" Lizzy asked, distracting him away from his thoughts as she lit up the remainder of her spliff that laid on the bedside table since last night.

"I'm good thanks… Hey, where are we anyway? I still have no fucking clue" Axel laughed to himself.

"Somewhere close to the outback of the Lima Nations. Where's home then?" She queried.

"Wood Oak City…."

"Oh!" Lizzy replied, surprised.

"What is it?" Axel asked.

"It's just…. that place, Wood Oak…. it's always on the news these days. Anyway, I can ask one of the guys to take you to the outskirts where it's safe. It's a two day drive North East from this place."

"Thanks!"

"You got family there or somethin'?"

"No, no family".

"What about a girlfriend?" She teased.

"...no, not anymore" he shook his head after a short pause.

"Well, hopefully I'll see you again one day! I'll get Spencer to bring the car round in an hour. Good luck!" Lizzy winked as she left the room.

Adam sat still, glued in front of the TV after another long shift. For days now, he couldn't sleep, eat or function properly. His full focus was now on taking down the Y-Syndicate who were destroying the city. After analysing the implants found in the ears of the two bombers, Adam traced their manufacturing back to the former Syndicate's RoboCy factory. The only individuals who could have had access to that place as well as Mr X's old funds were his two children who were now young adults.

There were newspaper articles pinned all over Adam's wall as well as tab by tab loaded on his laptop with news all about the Y-twins. They were two high profiled entrepreneurs who were now untouchable and unstoppable. He discovered that, for the past 7 years they had rebuilt their fathers empire behind the shadows. In fact, the twins now owned a third of the city's wealth and they were not stopping any time soon. They continued to buy off corporations, especially those involved in infrastructure and technology.

Their brand new high speed SkyTrain was hailed a triumph in Wood Oak City's newspaper and the twins were now powerful people with powerful allies. Adam knew deep down, that they were the ones responsible the bombings. The apple never fell far from the tree and as powers go, the two of them were ruthless and were quickly gaining full control of the city.

Tonight was another long night, so Adam took a seat in front of his laptop where he began digging for more information once again. As he gulped down the remainder of his beer, he clicked on an article that outlined the underground event taking place next Friday. It had photos of speakers installed adjacent to Wood Oak's sewage system that the twins now owned. Thousands of people were set to gather there to listen to DJ-K Washi's concert which was due to be streamed all over the city.

Then, the sound of Adam's cell phone suddenly distracted him.

"Sammy?! What's goin' on?" He answered, slightly alarmed by the 1am phone call.

"We found them!" Sammy enthusiastically answered.

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"Electra and Gloria. We found their asses! Want us to bring them to you? They got dirt on the twins!"

"Sammy, how many times are we gonna do this? I told you, I don't want you gettin' involved anymore with this! That vigilante shit is over now, let it go! Besides, I don't even have a warrant out on those hoes so if I'm caught with you, I…"

"Bro, do you wanna save this city or not? Do you think Bernstein's team of officers and the bullshit SIF are gonna get them to talk?! Stop being a fuckin' pussy and…"

"Sammy!" Adam shouted, now even more perplexed than earlier. "I told you, I don't want you involved in this anymore. I could have you arrested for this! Sammy please, I'm beggin' you, let this go! We'l deal with it…."

"You wanna know somethin'? I once had faith in you bro! We saved this city! I was there when we took down Mr X and I was there risking my life when you needed saving! I ain't a kid no more! And as far as this city goes, it's in the shits because of you and your fuckin' team of officers!

"Sammy, don't…"

"The way I see it, you got two choices. You either bring your ass here right now and get the answers you want, or I'll deal with these bitches myself!"

"Bro, I never wanted you involved in this shit!" Adam sighed.

"Well, I never had a choice! When you got kidnapped, I was just a kid and I still managed to save you! I always had your back!... And where the fuck are you now, huh?"

"Sammy, listen to me. Get out of there and let them go. If the Y-Syndicate find out you're onto them, we'll all be in deep shit…"

"WE'RE ALREADY IN DEEP SHIT, MAN!" Sammy yelled back.

"You think I don't live every day regretting that my kid brother almost got killed saving me? That your childhood was taken away because of my kidnapping! You saw things and went through things that no teengager should have! I never wanted you to fight my battles! Sammy, you deserve so much better than this. Let them go and we'l…."

"FUCK YOU!" Sammy shouted back with tears behind his voice as he hung up the phone.

"Sammy?... SAMMY?!"

Adam then tried several times to call back, but his brother was too annoyed to answer the phone, "shit!" He shook his head with regret. Sammy had now left Adam with no choice other than to go and track him down before getting into any more trouble with the syndicate or with the law.

Adam hastily reached for his jacket and keys, but as he opened the door, a familiar face stood in the distance there in front of him in the pouring rain.

The first thing Adam could see in the darkness was a tall, muscular man with a spare denim shirt that he held onto in one hand over his shoulder. His red and white sneakers casually stepped through the puddles that reflected off of the neon city lights across the street.

"I'll be damned…." Adam quietly said to himself with his jaw dropped.

"It's been a while, bro…" Axel grinned.

"Axel? What the fuck….?!"

"Can I come in?" He politely asked.

Reluctantly, Adam held open the front door, unsure and in shock at his old friend's return.

"You got some explaining to do, don't you think….?"

Author's Note

So here it finally is - the moment of Axel's return after 10 years in the wilderness. I wanted to focus this chapter particular on his return journey as the journey was so detailed when Axel left. I wont give anything away, but he will soon find out how much Wood Oak City has really changed in his absence as well as some reunions coming up!

Please let me know your thoughts and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :-).