Disclaimer

This is my first ever written piece and fan fiction. It has been a pleasure to write- most of the time the words come out and the story happens in my imagination as I am writing each chapter.

For me, this isn't for money or fame (please no one sue me- the characters and premise are created by Sega plus some extras I've added to the story). My moto in life is feed my soul first and if something is worth discovering like writing to do this, the time I spend doing it and discovering myself is more rewarding than a paycheque or recognition.

So I hope you enjoy my first story. Like many others, I grew up playing the games as a kid and they were always special to me in life.

Introduction

He gazed over the edge of an empty bridge. Below he could see the still murky water, littered as if no one had crossed this derelict part of the city for months. As he gazed up, he could see the sun setting in the distance behind the sky scrapers that towered above Wood Oak City.

"Sammy, where you at?" An impatient voice shouted from the end of the bridge immediately snapping him away from his thoughts. "We need to be there by 8 and I can't have you fucking this up for us".

Slightly pissed off with the order, Sammy placed his skateboard on the floor and rode towards Kadeem. They had been best friends for the last four years since they started high school and always had each other's backs. Although Kadeem could be hot headed at times and on the wrong side of the law, he was always there for Sammy and helped him and accepted him into his group when he was bullied by other kids. Kadeem would never find anyone as loyal as Sammy.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Sammy before the pair continued their journey.

One hour later the boys reached their destination outside a row of abandoned warehouses overlooking the water. Sammy had been to many dangerous places before with Kadeem and could defend himself in any situation but this was unusually silent. His father and older brother had spent years teaching him martial arts. Before his passion for skate boarding, Sammy remembered wanting to be a boxing champion just like them. That was a long time ago… After his father died, Sammy lost interest in boxing and teenage life began to go off track.

"Whatever he says, don't say shit back" Kadeem continued with his orders. "Just hand over the bag when he asks you to". Within five minutes a black Mercedes with tinted windows pulls up in front of them with two men inside- the driver in his suit and another man out of view sitting at the back. This man, casually dressed in black jeans and a blue t shirt immediately gets out of the car. He is a young black male, in his late 20s that looks as if he has had his fair share of fights. The first thing you can notice is the scar going down one side of his face from his eye down to his jawline- probably a machete.

He walks over with a stern look on his face. "Yo Kadeem- thanks for transporting my shit". His serious demeanour turns into a smile as he greets Kadeem and they lock hands then hug. "Good to see you again bro. And hows the distribution these days?" Kadeem replies "its good! Great actually, were gonna need more supplies soon".

"Good work…. Who's this?" the man's gaze turns to Sammy. "This is my boy Sammy, he's helping me with the distro. Sammy this is our manager Donovan". Donovan walks over to Sammy suspiciously sizing him up before giving a nod. The boys proceed to hand over their two rucksacks to Donovan who quickly takes the opportunity to investigate some of the contents by pulling out a handful of cash. "Make sure its all there" Donovan hands over the order to the driver who has now stepped out of the car.

Kadeem enthusiastically blurts out "Any idea when the next load of supplies will be ready?" Donovan turns around, looking offended and pauses. This friendly exchange now turns into an unpredictable conversation. Donovan pauses before him and the driver start laughing- "Kadeem, bro I get it! You really do want to work hard for our organisation and I know that. All in good time, the boss knows this too. In fact, he would like to meet you personally as we have new material to shift and there might be a promotion in it for you". Sammy, concerned looks at Kadeem.

Donovon continues- "why don't you and your friend come with us to meet him?" Sammy responds to Kadeem "if its ok, I need to get back it's getting late and we still have some more left to distribute back home". Donovan replies, his tone sterner "that's not a request kid! Get in the car and once the meeting with your friend is done we will drop you some place nearby".

Reluctantly but with no choice, Sammy follows his friend into the car not knowing where they will end up next.

It's already 21:30, they are far from home and Sammy's older brother Adam will go ape shit if he is not home by 10pm which is when he returns from work. To top this, if these gangsters find out who Sammy really is, they will probably kill him or take him for ransom as Adam happens to be one of the districts most senior police officers. He has no idea how deep Sammy is in this mess and another interrogation from his big brother will not help the situation.

The car pulls up by a large gate filled with security guards before being allowed to proceed towards a grand beautiful mansion with a late night pool party getting started. Sammy suddenly realises that this really isn't just some low life drug dealer they are dealing with now. This is the organiser, the connect, the boss. He has met a lot of dangerous people, members of the syndicate but never one as high in the rankings as this.

"Be careful and hurry the fuck up!" Sammy whispers angrily into his friend's ear as they walk up the steps to a large white door. They are now on the other side of the property to the pool party and it is dark outside. A very large, bald muscular man covered in tattoos with a vest on answers the door and escorts the group to the hall just past the entrance. The hall is covered in red- the carpet, the walls finely decorated with paintings and chandeliers. Any one of these paintings could probably be sold for over a million dollars. Sammy feels sick thinking of how rich this gangster must be with this lavish lifestyle compared to the brutality and poverty of the streets. All that money for a fucking painting!

After 20 minutes a man in a smart black suit appears to be coming down the large staircase at the centre of the hall. Again, he is tall, muscular and his walk indicates that he is trained in martial arts. He is tanned, blue eyed and has has light ginger hair slicked back- this is where he gets his nickname Tiger. Whatever tattoos he has under his suit, they extend down to his hands finishing off with a small circular design from far on his right hand. Next to him are two beautiful blonde ladies wearing red dresses along with four more men in suits behind him. The bald man whispers in Tiger's ear before summoning the group to the next room. In their tracks, the guard stops Sammy telling him to wait in the hall. "I knew tonight was a bad idea" Sammy thinks to himself. He is forced to wait outside with another, slimmer body guard in a suit and tie while Kadeem is escorted into the next room with Donovan.

It has been another 15 minutes. "Can I get some liquor from the pool party while I wait". It appears that the guard has not understood Sammy fully and replies with an accent "you want drink kid? Cola, water?..." Sammy replies "yes please can I get a coke". Surprisingly, the guard caters to his request and Sammy takes the opportunity from his absence to look around and get a view through a small window by the door of the large room where Kadeem is sat with Tiger and his associates. It dawns on him that the bald guy is still in there holding his skateboard that he took away at the entrance!

They are sniffing coke, talking and drinking in there- Kadeem is no innocent kid but this is a bit too much for a 15 year old. He is use to pot, syrup and the occasional ecstasy tablet but never coke before. In the flash of a second, Tiger pulls out a silver gun and forces it into Kadeem's mouth. That second feels like forever as Sammy can see the fear in his best friend's eyes knowing there is nothing he can do. Tiger fires one loud shot before Kadeem's face turns into a pool of blood.

Everything is a blue right now and Sammy relies on his immediate reaction to get out of there as he starts running for the door out of the hallway leading to the main entrance. From here on, everything else is blank and all he can do is run forward. There has to be another way out as the gate entrance is heavily guarded. All he can hear is gun shots, men shouting and dogs barking. There is a large trash can at the back of the property where he takes cover before they see him. "Make sure you kill his fucking friend" Tiger aggressively orders. They round up the body guard who got the coke for Sammy and shoot him straight away in the head. Sammy is terrified for his life, how is he going to escape when there are men everywhere looking for him.

They split up to search the premises outside and inside. All of a sudden one of the men appears next to the bin, spotting Sammy and trying to grab him. With a kick to the face followed by a punch to the stomach, Sammy quickly catches the man off guard and he falls to his knees. The teenager struggles to strangle and wrestle the guard who is double in size to keep him on the ground but finally Sammy is able silence him by breaking his neck. He then quickly runs over to the wooden fence surrounding the perimeter of the property. His heart is racing as he tries to climb over before the dogs and gunmen reach the fence. Fortunately he is fast enough and escapes from the property onto the main road. He can hear the sound of the men shouting and driving in their cars out of the main entrance coming to find him. All Sammy can do now is run or hide as far away as possible from these killers. He stops to catch his breath by an alleyway and breaks down. "I can't believe they've killed him…"