Chapter 45

Adam frantically yelled so that the sound of his voice could surpass the noise of bullets and bombs that were flying past him. "Take any civilians left you can find and get them to safety! I'll meet you on the edge of the city by sunrise if I'm still alive!"

"Daddy! I'm not leaving you!" Cherry shouted.

"You have to go!" Her father yelled back. "We can hold them off while you get these people out of Wood Oak..." he sighed. Looking past her shoulder, he could see at least 10 civilians including women and children all huddled up at the back of the hotel lobby in fear for their lives.

"I can't..." the teenager shook her head with tears in her eyes.

"I'll be ok babygirl," Adam nodded, placing one hand on his daughter's shoulder. Cherry instantly embraced him, hugging him close. She was still much shorter than her father, so she rested her head below his chest as she held onto him tightly. He gently lifted her chin so that her watery eyes stared back up at his own. "I told you, I'll be Ok. You know this must be done and it's what you gotta to do..."

Within a flash of a minute, Cherry followed their plan B. She let go of her father, staying as composed as possible whilst she led the civilians through a fire escape door located downstairs on the other side of the hotel. As Cherry ran away, she briefly glanced back at her father at the main entrance who was still taking cover behind the walls along with his friends Floyd and Shiva. Each of them relying on a variety of firearms they had stolen from the SIF's main offices that Adam had access to. The three of them were against a whole precinct of around 50 armed officers and they stood little chance of surviving. Now, they were only buying time for anyone left to escape.

For those civilians unfortunate enough to still be present in Wood Oak City, the Y-Syndicate would undoubtedly find them and would subject them to the torture of experiments or slavery under their mind control scheme. People were dying in their hundreds due to the bombs and collapsed buildings. And even if they survived in hiding, it was only a matter a time before food, medication and supplies would run scarce. Wood Oak City was now a no man's land, except for the police who controlled it.

Whilst Floyd and Adam stood busy shooting all the bullets and grenades they could at the shielded cops closing in, Shiva aimed his palms towards the power cables outside above the traffic lights.

"Is it not easier to just shoot from a gun?!" Floyd remarked.

"I told you, I don't need a weapon!" As the Kempo master replied, two bright white bolts of lightening left his palms, instantly striking the electricity lines. The police force panicked, stepping back when several officers felt the impact of the long fallen cable. It sent deadly amounts of voltage through their bodies. The shock on those hit was immense where the officers sparked violently through the air, suffering with first degree burns that either left them dead of severely injured.

Shiva's brave improvisation helped to eliminate almost a third of the officers closing in on the hotel, however it left him vulnerable.

"Aaaaa!" He yelled in pain as a bullet struck his exposed arm. Floyd quickly used the firepower from his own robotic arms as a purple laser ripped out of him. In those precious seconds, he just about managed to pull Shiva back to safety behind cover.

"How's he doing?" Adam asked concerned from the other side.

"He'l be ok. Just don't go pulling anymore heroics like that again!" Floyd shook his head at Shiva on the ground, resting next to his leg.

"It worked though, didn't it?" Shiva grinned.

"Shit!" Floyd huffed, putting all jokes aside.

"What's wrong?" Shiva frowned.

"I'm running low on power..." the wrestler answered whilst tiredly swinging down his robotic arms.

"We don't have much ammo left either!" Adam shouted back at them.

"Fuck!" Floyd knew this was coming, but he was hoping that they would be able to hold out a little longer.

Shiva nodded at the two of them, "then we fight until the end..." he said honorably.

"There's two many of them, plus I can hear a chopper!" The pessimism in Floyd's voice was felt strongly.

"Must be reinforcements," Adam sighed.

"What about the escape route?" Floyd asked.

Adam shook his head, "it will only lead them to Cherry and the others. Plus we can't outrun them now..."

There and then, the three of them understood they would have to fight until their death. They were still outnumbered and their weapons and energy were running out. They were famished, injured and fatigued so the likelihood of them making it out of here alive was near impossible and they knew it.

It was clear from the outside that the trio's bullets had run out after their exchange came to a halt and the police force knew it. Commissioner Bernstein carefully decided to step forward past his officers through the smokey street. He waited in silence for a moment before taking the opportunity to speak out. Adam, Floyd and Shiva patiently stood still, ready to use their fists and whatever energy they had left to see this through until the end.

"Hunter. I know your in there..." That all too familiar voice sent shivers down Adam's spine. "Look, I once liked you very much. In fact you were my best officer! Make this easy for both of us by surrendering, and in turn, I will ensure your death is as quick as possible."

"Fuck you!" Adam spat back, still taking cover behind the doorway.

"Come on Hunter! You and I both know your crew here are outnumbered. Besides, the twins are sending more enforcements and they want you alive. You know what it's like being held captive by your enemies and what torture is like. You remember that well, don't you? I can spare you that experience again at least, and spare your daughter's life too..."

Adam gritted his teeth with anger whilst clenching his fists. Floyd glanced at him from the other side, shaking his head to signal not to go.

"So what's it gonna be then huh? An easy surrender, or do we gotta storm this building and force every single one of you into a slow death, cause I don't appreciate time wasters..."

The situation for them was now bleaker than ever. With Shiva weakened and Floyd's power temporarily depleted, Adam fully understood that this was it and that a three man, let alone one man army wasn't going to succeed.

"Well...?" The Commissioner started to become impatient. "I guess we're looking at the hard way then! Barney, you know what to do..." he ordered. Several officers stepped forward, enough to load the rocket launcher facing directly towards the hotel entrance. The three fighters glanced at one another with fear in their eyes for the first time. They had succumb to the fact that they had fought bravely and had saved a lot of people, but now was the end of the road.

As they took cover, remaining low on the ground with their hands protecting their heads, Adam heard the whistling sound of a rocket outside. They held their breaths as their hearts pounded, however the rocket didn't strike the building as expected. Again, they heard another whistling sound, they could even smell burning coming from outside. But again, nothing struck the building. Then the sounds of several rockets turned into pain and shouting, surprisingly not from them but from the officers outside.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOIN' ON?!" Floyd yelled with panic as he remained down on the ground with his hands over his head.

Adam cautiously rose up to glance outside as he could hear more and more officers yelling in pain. His jaw dropped as he stood still in the door way.

"What is it?!" Floyd insisted.

Adam pointed one finger towards the sky. "Look..."

The three fighters then emerged in awe as they witnessed what looked like dozens of fire balls rocketing from the sky then down onto the officers. Many of whom were taking cover behind and under their police cars whilst there was no longer any sign of Commissioner Bernstein. His own rocket that was about to attack them still stood there pointing towards the doorway.

"What the hell is that?" Floyd froze, exasperated and unsure at what Godly force was reigning down from the sky.

"It's the ancient ways. He has finally mastered it," Shiva nodded with respect and optimism towards the sky.

"Huh? Who mastered what?" Floyd shrugged confused.

"Motherfucker!" Adam shouted with relief and excitement in his voice as soon as they spotted Axel walking towards them through the smoke. The flames that flew down from the sky barely touched his skin and even if they did, it never burnt him once. Axel was controlling the fire and the officers he casually walked past were perishing because of it.

"Since when were you able to do that?!" Floyd asked him, with a mixture of shock and intrigue.

Axel's reply was one of urgency, "we have to go. More are coming and I can't hold them off for much longer..."

Three had now turned into four and they felt incredibly lucky that Axel had shown up at the right time. They briefly glanced back at the array of burnt cops lying on the ground once the fire rockets from the sky came to a halt. The smell of ash was strong and the surrounding trash cans and buildings were alight.

"We have to go now! I need some time before I can do that again." Axel insisted, now slightly out of breath. So without an ounce of hesitation, the four fighters made their exit.

It had now been five hours since their conflict back in Wood Oak City Center and dusk was currently falling over the city. During their walk, Axel had remained unusually silent. Adam had put it down to the four of them being alert at all times in case any enemies were looming close by. With the Commissioner having escaped, they knew they were in serious danger and the Y-Syndicate would not stop at any cost to hunt them down.

"We'l be safe here for the night." Axel spoke for the first time in hours, casually dumping his shirt on the ground.

Adam understood they were now at the edge of the city, well beyond the subway tracks and suburbs as this was a forested area he recognized. It was situated at the North East side of Wood Oak. Here couldn't of felt any further away than where they were fighting earlier. Even though the lights of the city flickered in the distance, the forest here felt like a safe haven. The sound of wolves howling echoed in the distance, whilst the smell of the air was intense and damp, but still fresh under the high carnivorous trees.

"Where are we gonna sleep? And what about food?" Floyd questioned pessimistically.

Axel simply nodded towards the soft ground under their feet. "I'll worry about food and water. You three stay here and rest."

It was clear that this was all second nature to their friend, but the others had never been a fan of camping outdoors.

But there was one more thing that had been playing on all of their minds during the journey here that no one dared to speak of. Adam especially felt on edge, wondering why Axel remained unusually silent. He'd practically sent Blaze to find Axel, but she never returned with him. His worst fear was that she had been killed on the journey.

As Axel quietly walked away from them into the distance, carrying only his knife, Adam decided to follow his trail.

"It's better if I hunt alone!" Without even glancing back towards Adam, Axel knew his friend wasn't far behind.

"Where's Blaze?!" Adam demanded an answer.

In the blink of an eye, Axel immediately switched from his calm, composed mood to a mood full of rage. He instantly switched, aggressively rushing towards his friend, grabbing his collar then pushing him with force until Adam's back crashed violently onto the trunk of a tree. This outburst threw Adam completely off guard. He was more used to the calm and meditative version of Axel that had returned from the woods after 10 years. Instead, the unpredictable fiery temper that Axel was capable was finally resurfacing after 10 years.

Axel proceeded to press his elbow and forearm against his friend's sternum as Adam held his hands up, not wanting to fight back.

"You knew! YOU FUCKING KNEW!"

"Hey, hey, hey..." Adam kept his hands raised in the air until Axel's fist landed crashing into the tree which Adam just managed to dodge by the milliliter. But Axel wasn't done yet, he kept seeing red as further kicks and punches flew forward fast. Adam remained on the defensive end of it all, blocking every attack efficiently. He knew that fighting back was only going to make matters worse.

"WHY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?" Axel yelled.

"It wasn't my decision, man!" Adam took a breath, this time the two of them circling around each other with more distance between them.

Axel then reached forward, sharply pushing Adam back. He was now at the point of intimidation, trying his best to piss off Adam so that he would strike back. But Adam was stubborn, he refused to retaliate now matter how many times his friend repeated. He understood exactly what Axel was venting about and he knew this day would come sooner or later.

Axel took a deep breath, exasperated and out of control with rage still inside of him. "That night, where were you huh?" He struck once again, demanding answers. "That was my kid, my fucking blood! Blaze and the baby were in danger and where the fuck were you?! She almost died and you were supposed to look out for her!"

"That ain't fair, man," Adam shook his head, stepping back.

"WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN THIS HAPPENED THEN?!" This time, Axel yelled at the top of his lungs with fury, blaming his oldest friend.

Adam paused with a heavy heart whilst all the painful memories of that night came flooding back in one go.

"Your the one who should be asking yourself that very same question, shouldn't you?" Adam replied. "You don't think that I've felt guilty enough about what happened for the last 10 years?! Cause I was here, I saw everything that came after!" He continued as Axel fell silent. "The whole fucking crime scene, that hospital room, when they told me Blaze was near dead and probably wouldn't walk again, when they removed your dead unborn child. I WAS HERE! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?!" Adam snapped.

There was an immediate frozen pause between the two men as they both stared at one another with shock and guilt in their eyes.

"I did everything I could to help her. In spite that Blaze believed you were coming back, I knew that was all a lie! There was no way you were ever returning back. And I warned you. I told you that shit would get messy if you got involved with her but you didn't listen! You left all of us picking up the pieces after what we did to the syndicate. We dealt with the death threats, the bounties on our backs, you name it! But they were after you and they would have settled for your ass in that hospital bed or dead! So ask me one more time, cause the people you left ain't the same as the ones you came back to, especially not Blaze!"

There and then, Axel fell silent with guilt. He had no idea how his best friend had felt all this time and to the extent of how bad it all was. "I'm done with this shit," Adam huffed as he brushed past Axel's shoulder, leaving him standing there contemplating.

As Adam walked away, Axel swallowed his pride. Underneath all the rage and anger, there was pain and tons of guilt he was holding onto. "I'm sorry, Adam. I don't blame you, this was all my fault..." He held his head in his palms as he crouched down towards the ground. Adam could see the tears in his eyes and he could hear the sorrow in Axel's voice. He had never seen his best friend in so much pain like this before. "I'd do anything to change the past. To change what happened to them..."

Adam let out a smooth exhale as he calmly stood next to him, gently placing one hand on Axel's shoulder. "In your defense, you didn't know what the situation was and how bad things got with the uprising of the new Syndicate. And I'm sure that if you knew Blaze was pregnant, you would have stayed".

Axel took a deep breath and a short gulp as he stared out into the distance, "I would have. Now I understand..." he paused.

"What do you mean?" Adam gave him a confused frown.

"Eru used to say all the time, to learn and master this power it involves the biggest sacrifice. And I never truly understood what that meant... until now," he sighed, briefly glancing down at his palms before continuing. "Blaze was right. Unless I use this power for good in this world, then all the bad and the suffering that happened means nothing."

"Does that mean your staying to fight?"

Axel looked up, giving him a nod of certainty. "We're not giving up. Every single one of them will pay for what they did, and what they did to us - all of us! We'll make sure no one else ever has to go through what we have. Those fuckers are gonna die at my hands for what they've done!"

"You're starting to sound like Blaze..." Adam raised an eyebrow, surprised by his change of attitude but happy that Axel was starting to change his mind.

"Look, I know she came to me so that I would come back and save your asses today, but I wanna stay for good and try to change things. I'll fight. For Max, for Blaze, for all of us".

"Good." Adam nodded, "just like old times then". A brief smile came to his face. Through all the dark shit they were dealing with, the fact that Axel had now set his mind on staying to finish the fight was the light at the end of the tunnel that they all needed.

"So we'd better tell the rest of the group waiting at the safe house where to meet us. Have you had any word yet from Cherry or Blaze yet?"

"Cherry texted she made it there with the civilians to Dr Zan, but I thought you knew where Blaze was? You were the last person to see her..." Adam shrugged, concerned.

"She left upset after she told me the truth, but I thought she was going to where... shit!"

"Hold up!" Adam frantically reached into his pocket for his cell phone.

"Zan, it's me..." He then placed the phone on speaker mode.

"What are you doing?! Your not supposed to call, they'll know your location and ours in the next 10 seconds! I sent you the text, that was enough of a risk!" The doctor scolded.

"I know Cherry and the civilians are with you, but what about Blaze?"

"Negative". He bluntly replied before hanging up.

"Fuck!" Adam cursed. Before he could say another word, Axel was already gone from the scene. Then a voice from behind Adam interrupted his train of thought."

"What's goin' on? Where is Axel headed to?" Floyd queried.

"We have to go back!" Adam replied with urgency.

"Now?! You saw that shit that went down, right now going back is suicide!"

"We don't have a choice. I'll explain on the way, let's move!"

Two blocks away from the police precinct, Blaze took cover on the roof of an abandoned department store. Compared to the earlier part of the day, the conditions in the city had become worse. Many civilians were still in hiding and were being hunted down one by one. Blaze looked on in horror from the roof at the deserted streets. The traffic lights were still operating, but there were no cars driving by. Only the police cars that were on patrol for anybody remaining were on the move. Blaze had returned to find Adam and the others, but had run into difficulties along the way. By the time she made it back to Wood Oak Plaza Hotel, her friends were gone.

She quietly observed the surroundings of the building with a decent view of the main precinct close by. Unexpectedly, out of nowhere, she quickly rolled backwards to take cover behind the edge of the roof as soon as she heard the sound of a helicopter nearby. It was now nightfall and likely that the chopper would have infra red heat detectors, so Blaze quickly sneaked back inside the now-derelict building. She continued to watch the streets from a small office window on the 3rd floor.

"Shit!" She whispered to herself, instantly covering her ears whilst ducking then lying on the wooden floorboards. A bright white light shone past the window above her twice, whilst house music mixed with a techno twist started to blare out. Most likely it was one of K-Washi's tracks that she despised. Blaze quietly laid on the floor with her back against the ground, with her hands tightly over her ears until the music and lights stopped.

Then Blaze slowly rose up, cautiously peering out of the corner of the window behind a net. She could hear screams and cries as at least 20 civilians were rounded up and forced to kneel on the road in front of 10 police officers with batons and shields. Blaze's first instinct was to run down and help, but she halted as soon as she heard the helicopter flying nearby once again. The wind from the propellers was intense and even she could feel it through the holes in the broken glass window that shook.

She looked on with hate, recognizing Officer Tim Murphy jumping off the rail of the chopper first. Behind him came Commissioner Bernstein, followed by a young man dressed in a long beige coat with bright white hair - Mr Y. In his hand he held an Uzi gun.

Tim's voice echoed from outside. "Here they are. My officers were able to retrieve several rebels who tried to fight against their authorities." Bernstein's reaction to Tim was to proudly smirk down at the 20 civilians- all adult men and women, before giving his star officer a proud nod.

Mr Y casually skipped around the group of hostages. "What are your plans then for them?"

"I'd say we should lock them up and torture them until they have the answers we need", Bernstein replied.

"I second that", Tim agreed.

"Hmmm," Mr Y grinned. "Can I suggest an alternative? A more efficient way or dealing with this matter?"

"Be my guest," Bernstein answered. Tim and the other officers stepped back, watching the criminal boss with caution.

It was difficult for Blaze to tell who these people were, how old they were and where they had come from as their backs were facing her direction. She could see Mr Y pulling out an envelope from his pocket containing photos.

"Let's give them a chance first," the tone of his voice rose. He then held up three of four photographs in front of them whilst walking past their faces so that the civilians could get a good look. "Their names are Axel Stone, Adam Hunter, Blaze Fielding and Leon Shiva. Three of which you once hailed as our city heroes. Now, I know at least someone around here has seen them or knows their whereabouts! Anyone wish to enlighten me then, hmm?"

Mr Y took a deep breath as he began to grow impatient at watching the hostages quiver underneath him.

"Let's try again..."

Out of nowhere, he swung his fist forward, punching one of the guys in the face, but still, nobody answered.

"He doesn't know, none of us have seen them! Please, please let us go. We can leave the city if you wish..." A blond lady in her 30s spoke out.

Mr Y turned around, smirking to himself. "Leave you say? Now what makes you think I would want you to leave?" He took her chin then lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean..."

"It's ok," he softly said. "There is another way you and your friends can help me catch these criminals who murdered my father..."

The woman took a deep gulp.

"What is your name my dear?" Mr Y asked.

"Jane," she replied, shaken.

"Well Jane, your about to do something all of your buddies here will admire... Murphy reach for the headphones."

As Mr Y took her hand to help Jane stand, he could feel her pulse frantically racing. "...it's ok. It's just a little music, won't hurt anyone. See?" He calmly said, holding up the headphones. "Now put these on..." he insisted.

As Jane placed the blue headphones over her ears, she began to look faint and almost trance-like in demeanor within a matter of seconds. During the minute at which she had them on, Mr Y jovially danced around her with the same sinister laugh his father had. Then finally, he removed the headphones. Jane's eyes continued to remain fixated on him and everybody could see that something was frighteningly wrong.

"Jane..."

"Yes?" She responded obediantly.

"Take this grenade," he ordered. Without hesitation, she took it then held it tightly in her hands close to her chest.

"Now pull on that pin,"

Again, without hesitation, she followed his every order down to the word as the crowd gasped.

"You have 20 more seconds before that detonates. I can stop it, IF and ONLY IF, someone here tells me where these individuals are... well?"

"She told you, we don't know!" Another woman shouted.

"That's too bad then I guess!" He shrugged as the small device exploded, ripping Jane's body apart and killing her instantly. "Any takers for the next turn?" Mr Y heckled.

Blaze quickly ran down the steps as fast as she could towards the doorway. She never wanted to get caught or surrender, but that was a better outcome than more blood shed at the expense of innocent people.

As she felt the cold air from outside, time suddenly slowed down to the millisecond. Blaze couldn't believe what she was now seeing. She instantly halted before anybody could see her. A whole army of fighters and officers were now barricading the streets, making their way to Mr Y in their dozens. It was clear that the city now belonged to the Y-Syndicate with their name written all over the streets.

But that wasn't the shocking part. The worst part of it all were the two individuals leading this army for fighters. At the front of the crowd stood two people she recognized. Blaze could hear the sound of Ms Y's voice yelling and ordering her fighters to take charge and search every single crack of this city for anyone still alive. This included the most loyal fighter of them all who was standing by her side.

"Listen to me," Ms Y ordered. "We will not stop, we will not rest and we will not give up until they are found and brought to me alive. Do you understand?"

"Yes master," Max replied, bowing to her whilst eager to get the search underway.

Blaze gasped, covering her hand over her mouth as she ducked down behind two metal trashcans. She couldn't believe that her friend was still alive and looking well and uninjured. But he wasn't the same Max she once knew and right now, staying here was not a safe option. Then suddenly, Blaze heard several gunshots in the distance followed by the heckle of Mr Y's voice loud in the air. She realized that the civilians the police had captured were now all dead.

She remained as still as possibly, trying her best not to heavily breathe with tears in her eyes. Thankfully Max walked past without noticing her, tearing apart the streets and anything or anyone that got in his way.

Authors note:

Well, I know it's been a while but it feels good to be back! Please let me know what your thought of this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it!

Until next time.