"Damn it!" Thorin cursed, shooting an icy glare down the hallway. "We've lost contact with Erebor Tower. Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence."

"Dís will get the coms back up as soon as she can. Right now we need to keep moving forward." Balin gestured towards the doorway with a worried frown. "The longer we stand here the more time Great Goblin has to plan."

"There are bound to be more traps. Stay on yer guard." Dwalin motioned for Ori to stay close and started off down the hall.

They had to deal with two more sets of spikes and a pit of fire, but Blue Team managed to make it to the doorway relatively unscathed. Thorin peered into the next room with concern. A hand on his arm caused him to jump, but he quickly stilled when Bilbo's voice whispered into his ear. "I haven't set off any traps yet. I do believe Great Goblin is activating them manually and doesn't know I'm here."

Thorin nodded minutely and glanced at the rest of the team, hoping they'd take the hint. "Be careful. There are only four of us here and we can't afford to loose anyone." Dwalin's brows knit for a moment, but Ori's hand on his lower back stilled his confusion.

"Aye, lad," Balin said with a mock sigh. "If we'd have known what we were getting into, I think we'd have brought a team with more members."

"Nothing to do about it now. Let's see what the next room brings." Steeling himself for the worst, Thorin stepped through the door.

Erebor Tower was silent save for the distant chime of the elevator bell. Dís stared at the dead security monitors and snarled, "Great Goblin has control of our systems. He's cut our power, but must be rerouting some of it to the elevator. I think our guests are on the way up."

"How many people do yeh think can fit in that elevator?" Bofur asked with a frown.

"It was built to comfortably fit all of us. Given the dimensions and the size ratio of the average human, I would imagine you could fit twenty-five people."

Kíli chewed on his lip and stared at the elevator door. "What are we gonna do?"

"Fight," Dori replied simply. "This is our home. If they think we'll give it up easily they've got another thing coming."

Gandalf gave a sage nod. "Arm yourself and find a defensible location."

Fíli's hand tugged on the hallway door and he frowned. "The door won't open. It's stuck."

"Lock-down mode," Dís cursed loudly. "It's supposed to be a safety feature, but apparently Great Goblin is using it to keep us in the main room." She tried the door to the balcony with the same results. "There's no way out. We're trapped."

The chime from the elevator grew louder. "They're almost here! Get ready!"

While the power in the rest of the room remained out, the lights on the elevator came back on lighting up the floor numbers. 25... 26... 27... The bell chimed one last time and the door slid open letting more than two dozen of Great Goblin's minions spill into the room.

The room Thorin stepped into was close to twenty yards long, with an intricately designed tile floor. The tiles were arranged in a spiraling pattern, in shades of black, white, and gray. A single doorway stood directly in front of them. The door they entered through locked itself behind them. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," Balin agreed with a frown. "There's something off about that floor. A warehouse like this shouldn't have fancy tile work."

Dwalin glared at the floor for a moment and then sighed. "Only one way to find out. Ya lads should stand back while I check it out."

Ori's lips parted like he wanted to object, but he held his tongue. Dwalin stepped out onto the floor, his feet resting on a white tile. Nothing happened. With a shrug he took another step onto one of the gray tiles. The walls make a creaking sound and slid closer together. "Shit. Guess some of the tiles are pressure sensitive." Another step, another white tile. Nothing. White. Nothing. White. Nothing. Gray. Walls closed in.

"It's a riddle!" Ori shrieked and hopped across the while tiles to where Dwalin was standing. "Look- there's a pattern! The white tiles are safe, the gray tiles move the walls in."

"What about the black ones?" Thorin asked from the doorway. "The pattern gets darker the nearer it gets to the other door. Eventually there are no more white tiles."

"We'll have to try a black tile when we get closer. For now let's try to stay on the white ones and not get crushed to death!" Ori's words were meant to be joking, but his voice held a slightly frantic edge. Dwalin gave him a reassuring smile and they continued on, jumping from one white tile to the next. Thorin and Balin followed slowly behind them and somewhere unseen Bilbo did the same.

Half way across the room the white tiles became fewer and far between. Dwalin turned back and looked to Thorin for guidance. "We're gonna have to step on some gray or black tiles now. Ya want us to try the black or stick with the gray ones?"

"How many gray tiles do you think it would take before the walls close in and crush us to death?"

Balin did the math in his head. "I would say no more than ten. And there's twice that between here and the door."

"Then we'll have to try the black," Dwalin took a deep breath and stepped onto one of the black tiles. For a second nothing happened and then a spear shot out of a gap in the tile, wedging itself through Dwalin's thigh. He cried out and started to fall, but Ori darted forward, straddling the nearby white tiles and supporting Dwalin's weight. "Poisoned too," Dwalin ground out as he pulled the spear out. The wound on his leg knit itself back together, though at a slower rate than normal. "Perfect."

Thorin stared at the tile pattern and sighed. After a minute Bilbo's quite voice whispered in his ear. "If only two people step on the gray tiles we can make it across."

"But there are fiv- more than two of us," he muttered under his breath in return.

"You could carry Balin. Dwalin should be strong enough to carry both Ori and me."

"I have a plan," Thorin said, as if just coming up with the idea himself. "We'll stick to the white tiles and gray when we must. If I carry Balin and Dwalin carries Ori we should be able to make it."

Dwalin's eyes widened slightly as Bilbo related the rest of the plan in his ear. "Let's get on with it then." Ori rolled his eyes, but climbed onto Dwalin's back piggy-back style. It took them a moment to get situated, with the invisible Bilbo clinging wildly to Ori's back. Thorin lifted Balin in much the same manner and they began making their way across the floor. It was awkward and undignified, but it worked. The walls closed in tighter and tighter for every gray tile, but they managed to squeeze through the final gap and into the next room.

Great Goblins minions poured into Erebor Tower with weapons at the ready. They all wore the same gray-green jumpsuits and grotesque masks, but carried a variety of weapons- everything from knives to staffs to guns. The Company scattered, spreading out around the room in order to maximize their efforts.

The second the elevator door opened Bombur started his charge, rushing forward at a surprising speed. There were a dozen minions between him and his goal, but his power made him unstoppable once he gained momentum. Bombur plowed through the men, using his bulk to push them to the side as he rushed straight into the elevator. He came to a stop only after crashing into the back wall of the lift and crushing the steel frame, effectively wedging it in place. "The only way in now is the stairs!"

Dori nodded his approval from where he was busy spinning one of the minions above his head. He sent the man flying at the wall, where he fell crumpled and unmoving. Grabbing a nearby chair, Dori wedged it under the handled of the door to the stairway. "Stairs are blocked off!" He turned back to the fight and grabbed up another henchman, wrapping an arm around the man's neck and choking him out.

Oín hefted the dinning table and flipped it on its side, ducking behind it to set up a triage station. He darted out to a cabinet on the computer wall and returned with a large first aid kit and a stack of towels. There would likely be injuries and if he were not able to assist with his powers, he wanted the others to have everything they could possibly need.

Loni ducked behind the table with Oín and pressed a hand to her forehead in concentration. Rooting around in the thoughts of the minions, she settled on one that seemed especially dangerous and screamed as loudly as she could into his thoughts. The man dropped the gun he was carrying and collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in pain. Loni fell back with a pinched look on her face, but gathered herself up and began to search for a new target.

Kíli positioned himself along the same wall as the elevator, with a clear shot into the fray. Reaching into his quiver he pulled out one of his trick arrows, drew back, lined up the shot, and fired. The arrow hit the ground and released a bolas trap on impact, the thin weighted ropes tangling around the legs of one of the minions and bringing him down. Smirking to himself Kíli drew another arrow and watched for an opening.

Fíli commanded the area between his brother and the elevator. Twin swords flashed in his hands as he took down one of the minions with a pummel to the head. Another man moved to take his pace, lashing out with a whip and disarming Fíli. Diving for the nearby weapon rack Fíli grabbed a staff and launched into a frenzied attack, altering his fighting style to dislodge the whip and losing his staff in the process. Reaching towards the weapon rack again, the minion blocked his arm with a dizzying capoeira move. Snarling, Fíli countered with krav maga and their fight began in earnest.

"I'm useless without room t' fly!" Bofur cursed, ducking behind one of the plaid couches as an unconscious man flew past him. He watched as Nori darted out, metal pipe in hand, and downed another henchman. Bofur's wings twitched in worried anticipation as Nori tossed him a switchblade grin and hamstrung an unsuspecting man. Another minion charged at the thief and Bofur shouted a warning, but it was too late. The man grabbed Nori and flipped him through the expanse of windows. Glass shattered as Nori skidded unmoving across the balcony and off the edge towards the concrete below. Bofur moved without thinking, diving through the jagged break in the glass and shooting downward at break-neck speeds. He caught Nori mid-air and cradled him close as his wings snapped out to carry them upwards. Bofur carefully deposited the thief near Oín, then turned back to the room with an uncharacteristic low growl. Loosing himself like a missile, Bofur flew across the room, grabbing the minion who had attacked Nori, and jetting out into the open sky.

"This is for having to keep my son hidden away!" Gloín shouted as he slammed two minion's heads together. "This is for making my wife worried!" Another man sailed across the room and into a wall. "And this is for trying to destroy our home!" Gloín ran out of nearby opponents and charged to where Bombur and Dori were in the thick of the fight. All four of his arms worked tirelessly to punch, claw, and grapple any of the minions who made the mistake of getting in his way.

Dís activated her plasma sword and glared at the men who were invading their home and threatening her friends. She turned towards the nearest minion, but before she could attack a loud crack sounded as the man pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger. Suddenly Dís staggered back, unharmed, while the bullet stopped inches from her face. Bifur's mask was pulled down, his face contorted in concentration as he used the vibrations from his scream to stop the bullet. As the bullet fell harmlessly to the ground he closed his mouth and offered her a rare smile. "Come on, Bifur. Let's do this together." Dís hefted her plasma blade and took down the henchman with the gun. Beside her, Bifur adjusted his mask and directed a low-frequency sonic blast at one of the nearby minions, rendering him unconscious.

Gandalf wadded through the fight with his shields up, occasionally using his staff to club one of the half-conscious minions on the head. He didn't fight directly, but made good use of himself by casting binding spells on the downed men. Dragging the bound minions to the far side of the room, Gandalf gave a pleased nod at how well the Company was doing given how outnumbered they were. And so far they had behaved like true heroes and not taken a single life.

Bofur soared above Erebor Tower, holding the minion who had hurt Nori by the back of his jumpsuit. The man struggled and pleaded, but Bofur paid him to mind. "I could let yeh fall an' no one would care. I should for what yeh did t' Nori. He could have died!" Bofur pulled his wings back and dropped into a short dive, causing the minion to shriek in terror. Pumping his wings, Bofur flew back up to the balcony and hung the man off the side of the railing by his jumpsuit. "Too bad I'm a better person than yeh are..."

Fíli bled heavily from a deep cut on his thigh, but he ignored the pain and reached for something to use as a weapon. The henchman he fought seemed to match him skill-for-skill and they had disarmed each other of most every weapon on the rack. Fíli's hand closed around the frame of a broken chair and he shrugged, kicking his uninjured leg out to break the wooden arm free. He turned and swung, hoping to catch the minion off guard, but the man crumpled to the ground before his blow could connect. Fíli blinked in confusion at the arrow protruding from the man's shoulder. "Paralytic shock arrow," Kíli informed his brother with a grin. "And you're welcome."

Gloín slammed a fist into the face of a masked henchman as another crowded him and landed a heavy blow to his side. One of his arms made an unnatural snapping sound, causing him to cry out in pain. Dori stepped in and engaged the attacker, his own arms cut and bloody from the fight. Bombur lay unmoving on the ground beside them, the side of his face swollen and bruised from a wayward blow.

Behind the table Oín's hand glowed brightly as he worked his fingers over the gashes in Nori's face and torso. There would be time to do a proper healing after the fight, for now all he could do was stop the blood loss and keep the thief from going into shock. Nori's eyes were unfocused, but open, so Oín left him in Bofur's care and moved on to his next patient.

The last minion fell to Dís' plasma blade and she leaned heavily on Bifur for support as they limped to the center of the room. "Are we all good?"

"Good is relative, but we're all alive," Oín replied as he worked to heal Bombur's concussion. "I should be able to get everyone mobile, but we're still going to be in tough shape."

Dís nodded and lowered herself to the ground. One of her hands was pressed tightly against a bloody gash on her side. "Do what you can, Oín."

Of the Company only Kíli, Oín and Bofur remained mostly unscathed, so they took it upon themselves to help clean their friends' wounds and make sure Gandalf's binding spells were keeping the minions contained. With the major injuries healed, the Company gathered their gear and prepared their next move.

"We need to get to the Rhovanion district to help Blue Team," Dís said, looking around their now desolated home.

Kíli leaned against his brother's side and chewed on his lip. "Do you think Uncle Thorin and the others are still alive?"

Dori made a strangled sound and paled visibly. Nori looked as ill as his brother, but managed a shaky response, "We'd know if they weren't. Great Goblin would wanna brag about it. No news is good news."

"I agree," Dís said. "Now , let's get moving. We've got 27 flights of stairs to get down."

Bofur perked up. "Or not. I can get everyone down to the street."

One by one Bofur flew the members of the Company out of Erebor Towers, taking care not to jostle their wounds. His wings ached from the added weight, but it saved them time and that was something they couldn't afford to waste.

Nori was the last one down. He couldn't help a soft laugh from escaping as Bofur scooped him up bridal-style and coasted them towards the sidewalk. "My hero..."

...