History FanFic / StreetsOfRageSaga

* GoodIsNotSoft: Barring some of their vices and issues, team Firestorm is a good-natured and virtuous group of people who want to protect the world from evil and will help those in need no matter what. When it comes to the Syndicate, though, they definitely shoot to kill and take no prisoners, even killing unarmed opponents when the need arises. This is exemplified in ''Duality'' when they kill Rudra (and this is considering that Axel shot his unconscious EvilTwin in the head a moment before.)
--> '''Axel:''' Shiva is not going to be pleased. We just killed his sister.\\
'''Blaze:''' All is fair in love and war.

* InfantImmortality: Mercifully played straight in ''Behind the World'' with Max and Jennifer, Axel and Blaze's children. Despite the horrific environment they've been brought to in the wake of their kidnapping, they manage to make it to the end of the story largely unharmed.

* BadassGrandpa: The titular Dreadnought in ''The Rise of Dreadnought'' was born in 1897, fought for Nazi Germany using arm-fitted blades during World War 2, and in the present day (2018), he's ''still'' considered one of the most dangerous men in the world.

The entire ten-story saga is available for download (in zipped PDF format) [[http://www.soronline.net/novels_saga.htm here]].

[[http://www.soronline.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1135 The original collection has since been updated heavily, rewriting most of the dialogue, scenes and the like, whilst also removing or toning down certain adult scenes while also scrapping and rendering the incomplete "Sons of Darkness" noncanon.]]

** Later put to the test when several guards open fire on the BigBad in ''The Rise of Dreadnought''. The fact that Dreadnought uses two blades to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome effortlessly deflect the bullets]] serves as his EstablishingCharacterMoment.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: TheSyndicate attempts this on [[spoiler:Blaze]] at the end of ''The New Syndicate''. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope They don't count on]] [[OhCrap her memories coming back]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome only a few minutes later]]]].
* LawOfInverseFertility: Axel wants to start a family, but Blaze can't have kids due to being infertile. In the first chapter of ''The New Syndicate'', it's revealed that she broke up with him because of it, though they eventually got back together. Then by the end of ''Shadow Hand'', the infertility has been resolved and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming they have a baby on the way]].

* WasOnceAMan: Zamza, in this continuity. While humanoid in appearance, it's made clear that he's a freakish result of experiments conducted by Dreadnought back during World War 2; the heroes later learn that he used to be James Souther, one of the Nazi party's prisoners of war. (In the games, Zamza is a normal human who happens to wield WolverineClaws on his gloves and is a boss character in the second game, and Souther--the name itself being a ShoutOut to a major enemy from ''FistOfTheNorthStar''--is a pallet-swap name for a similar enemy.)

* CrazyPrepared: Mr. X [[GenreSavvy had all sorts of contingency measures put in place]] in case some of his major plans failed, including making provisions for the potential failure of Project Y. [[spoiler:A bio-genetic resurrection was one such backup plan]].

The series takes elements from the three canon games and the fan-made ''Streets of Rage Remake'' and other fan-made ''SOR'' works, creating an AlternateUniverse story in which various characters get fleshed-out back-stories and characterization that wasn't present in the original canon (including [[AscendedExtra generic enemies from the games becoming more important characters in this saga]]).

* NeverSaidItWasPoison: Adam and Blaze catch Abadede with this in the revised ''Origins'', while interrogating him as to where a kidnapepd Axel was taken to.
-->'''Adam:''' It's just a simple question, man, then we'll leave you alone. Tell us about Sergeant Stone.\\
'''Abadede:''' Fuckin' pig! I don't know no Axel Stone!\\
'''Adam:''' Ah. See, I never told you his name was Axel...

* PowerIncontinence: Blaze suffers from a severe case of this in ''Rise of Dreadnought'', as her aura begins to go wild. The first time she describes involved her unconsciously movinng stuff with her mind and humourously throwing Axel out of bed, which she thought was kinda funny. The second time though (As in the first instance we see on-page) has considerably more tragic consequnces, as Blaze has a nightmare that causes her aura to explode, destroying the hotel she was staying in and killing forty-plus innocent people. The third time even causes her to mindlessly attack Skate.

* GoodIsNotSoft: Barring some of their vices and issues, team Firestorm is a good-natured and virtuous group of people who want to protect the world from evil and will help those in need no matter what. When it comes to the Syndicate, though, they definitely shoot to kill and take no prisoners, even killing unarmed opponents when the need arises. This is exemplified in ''Duality'' when they kill Rudra.
--> '''Adam:''' Shiva is not going to be pleased. We just killed his sister.\\

** Later put to the test when several guards open fire on the BigBad in ''The Rise of Dreadnaught''. The fact that Dreadnaught uses two blades to [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome effortlessly deflect the bullets]] serves as his EstablishingCharacterMoment.

* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Syndicate's Inner Sanctum, mentioned frequently in preceding stories in the saga, consists of the organization's highest-ranking members, of whom only a few are mentioned by name at first--until their formal introduction by Mr. X in the third chapter of ''Shadow Hand'', which is set sometime after the initial events of ''Origins''. This particular group, led by Mr. X himself, consists of Shiva, Electra, the twins Onihime and Yasha, [[CanonForeigner Simon Jerrin]], Dr. Henry Dahm, Electra, Abadede, Rocky Bear, and Villem Antonio.

* ParentalAbandonment: Axel's father was murdered twelve years before the beginning of the saga's continuity, and his mother died in a car accident shortly afterward. Blaze likewise lost her family at a tender age.

* PrecisionFStrike: Various times, even within the narrative itself.

* RoomDisservice: Blue Swan attempts to get rid of Busta by disguising the hitman as a bellboy.

** The aforementioned crossovers as well as Dr. Dahm being sent to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Arkham Asylum]]. The 2014 rerelease has since renamed the asylum.

* YouHaveFailedMe: In the 2014 revision of ''Origins'', Mr. X has Shiva kill Simon Jerrin after the doctor fails to not only keep Blaze imrpisoned at Edgemont, but fails to stop Axel and Blaze's second infiltration and making off with Edgemont's computer database. Not that Jerrin realizes this as Mr. X seemingly allows Jerrin to join in a midnight feast of his and when Jerrin notices a sheet of plastic on the floor, X claims he's having painting done on his office. Shiva then uses this sheet to wrap Jerrin's corpse in. In the previous version of the story, Blaze and Adam corner Jerrin at his home, interrogate him, then execute him.

''Streets of Rage Saga'' is a fan-fiction story written by Matthew Drury between 1995 and 2010, based on the popular ''StreetsOfRage'' video game series. The saga consists of ten separate stories which are set [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture between 2012 and 2030]] and which outline the efforts of Axel Stone, Adam Hunter and Blaze Fielding (the three core heroes of the first game) and their allies against TheSyndicate.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Skate apparently has no problem believing that cyborgs, clones and functional battle robots exist (after all, he's fought a number of them and has teamed up with Dr. Zan, who is himself a cyborg), yet he scoffs at the idea of [[{{Shinobi}} ninja-themed magical powers]].

** BigBadDuumvirate: Between [[DragonAscendant Shiva]] and the Hand, the leader of [[{{Shinobi}} Neo Zeed]], in ''The New Syndicate''.

** ''The New Syndicate'': [[spoiler:Shiva and [[{{Shinobi}} the Hand]] are dead, Joe Musashi has retrieved the two mystic items that Neo Zeed sought to steal for their nefarious purposes, and Axel and Blaze get back together. However, Dr. Zan is now dead, and the nuclear bombing of London has created a state of societal and financial chaos both at ground zero and in the wider global community, [[SocialDarwinist as Shiva]] [[TheBadGuyWins had hoped to have happen]]]].

* CrossOver: Later books feature [[{{Shinobi}} Joe Musashi]] as a recurring character and the cast of VideoGame/FinalFight make an appearance in ''Shadow Dancer''. (Notably, both the ''Shinobi'' game series and the ''Streets of Rage'' series share developers from the same company, Team Shinobi.)

* GunsVSSwords: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] between [[{{Shinobi}} Joe Musashi]] and his sensei Harada, during a flashback the former has while meditating in Chapter 12 of ''The New Syndicate''.

* ItsPersonal: The [[VideoGame/FinalFight Mad Gear]] conflict, which forms part of the story for ''Shadow Dancer''. Related to this, an attack on one of his childhood friends by the Union Lizard organization prompts [[{{Shinobi}} Joe Musashi]] to return to America and get involved with the conflict.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: Played straight with Adam and Axel in the first story, ''Cygnus Threshold''.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Dreadnought proves himself to be this in ''The Rise of Dreadnought''. [[spoiler:He deliberately leaves false information about a pick-up of Rakushin explosives material where the heroes can find it, directing them to the supposed pick-up point--and by the time they realize they've been played and were lured into a trap, TheDragon has already picked up the materials at the real location]].

* TheObiWan: Dr. Zan serves as this for Blaze during ''Project Y'', with regards to dealing with her new-found KiAttacks.

** On that note, the ending of ''The New Syndicate'' is similar to the beginning of the second Resident Evil film, Apocalypse, complete with Blaze saying Alice's "My name is Alice and I remember everything" line.

** ''Rise of Dreadnought'' features a character named [[Franchise/IndianaJones Arnold Ernst Toht.]]

* TheBechdelTest: Blaze and Sasha discuss her medicine, the cause of her condition, and her accompanying rights at Edgemont. Thus, the test is passed.

** ''Duality'': Shiva's world-destroying superweapon is called a [[DarkEmpire World Devastator]].

* CrossOver: Later books feature [[{{Shinobi}} Joe Musashi]] as a recurring character and the cast of FinalFight make an appearance in ''Shadow Dancer''. (Notably, both the ''Shinobi'' game series and the ''Streets of Rage'' series share developers from the same company, Team Shinobi.)

* ItsPersonal: The [[FinalFight Mad Gear]] conflict, which forms part of the story for ''Shadow Dancer''. Related to this, an attack on one of his childhood friends by the Union Lizard organization prompts [[{{Shinobi}} Joe Musashi]] to return to America and get involved with the conflict.

The entire ten-story saga is available for download (in zipped PDF format) [[http://www.soronline.net/novels_saga.htm here]].

Drury has since released a ContinuityReboot of the saga in the form of a more realistic novel titled: ''Bare Knuckle: Ghost Precinct'', available [[http://soronline.eden2-book.com/novels_bkgp.htm here]].

* TheCameo: Aside from the CrossOver moments in the saga, there's one very surprising cameo that is made, not by a person, but by an inanimate object--the [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane]], where Dr. Henry Dahm has been imprisoned in ''The Rise of Dreadnought'' after his actions in ''Project Y''. This Arkham Asylum is stated to be on an island 250 miles west of France, and there's no mention of Gotham City (in Batman canon, Arkham Asylum is on the very outskirts of Gotham, which itself is a pastiche of New York, which in real life is over 3000 miles away from France).

** The prologue of ''Origins'' has a segment that's lifted almost word-for-word from a similar scene in the ''Literature/JurassicPark'' novel.
** The aforementioned crossovers as well as Dr. Dahm being sent to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Arkham Asylum]].

The entire ten-story saga is available for download (in zipped PDF format) [[http://www.streetsofrage.net/novels_saga.htm here]].