The Rangers were speeding towards Winchester's tower block, but the roads were chaos. The local Police Department had, naturally, been called when reports of gunfire and explosions were called in, only to be called back when Commander Shaw had called to say it was a military matter. Police were beginning to shut off the roads to allow them and other emergency services to get access.
By the time they got to the building, about a dozen transports and trucks were there, forming up a defensive barrier in case of further gunfire, and troops were setting up the perimeter. Commander Shaw got out and started to immediately call the shots.
"Everyone hold your position! I don't want anyone to go anywhere near that building until we secure the area!" She told them. "The Rangers are going in first, once they clear the lobby, a team will go in to secure and allow emergency services to deal with any casualties. Do we all understand?"
She heard a call to confirm, before going to the Rangers. They were standing back, waiting for the order to go in. Nate couldn't help looking towards Zoey. She was unusually rigid. She was staring towards Eli's bike, which had been abandoned outside. It confirmed her worst fear. He was there. He wanted to reach out to her, to somehow try and soothe her, but he didn't know what he could do that would make this situation any easier for her. Commander Shaw stood before them.
"Secure the lobby." She told them. "Then we'll work up floor by floor."
"You want us to secure all the floors individually?" Devon asked. "That'll take ages!"
"It's the only safe way forward!" She told him. She looked to Zoey sympathetically, before gesturing to the building. "Go."
"UNLEASH THE POWER!" They all called out as they ran towards the building, heading inside. By the time they got there, the lobby looked like a war zone. There were people lying all around, unmoving. They started sweeping the area, looking for any signs of movement.
"Dear God, this is…" Ravi whispered, looking around. "These guys are carrying hardware that's not much worse than ours. What the Hell happened here?"
"Guys, I found a live one." Devon responded, checking one of the guards.
"Over here too." Nate answered. "And this one…"
"I know I'm new to this, but is it unusual that with all these bullet holes none of the guards look like they've been shot?" Steel asked. Devon activated his cheetah speed and darted around before skidding to a halt.
"None of these guys are dead." He told them. "They've been beaten like a drum for sure, but they're all alive."
"Someone did this without a weapon?" Nate asked. "That doesn't sound likely."
"Not if its someone human." Ravi answered, checking the bullet holes in one of the walls. "I think all of these were caused by the security team. Either they REALLY need some target practice or they were panicking pretty badly!"
"Who do we know can do this to a small army without a gun and walk away?" Devon said, before getting on his communicator. "Commander, this is Devon. Send in a team to cover medical staff. We've got a whole bunch of people here that need medical attention. Someone beat them pretty badly."
"Beaten?" She asked. "Are you sure?"
"Once the medics have the casualties, get everyone to draw back." Devon told her. "I don't think Eli's the only one in here. As good as he might be, I doubt he could do this."
Meanwhile, part-way up the building, Eli was making his way up the stairwell, sweeping the way with his pistol as he went. He still had no idea who had caused the carnage in the lobby, but it did two things. It cleared a lot of the security, meaning that he now had less guards to deal with, but it also meant he now had a lot less time to work with. Arthur had gone too far. He had attacked his family, and he had most of the evidence against him. He wasn't sure how long it would be before he could get the rest of it from Grid Battleforce, but he imagined it wouldn't be long.
Commander Shaw hadn't even told him about the attack on his mother, he needed to hear it from Zoey. She had assured him she was on his side, that she was going to do everything to make the case against Winchester that would bring him down for good, but he had already dealt with officers that cared more about their careers than doing what was right. That she hadn't thought to tell him about the attack meant he no longer had faith that she wasn't going to just give him everything he need to turn all the paperwork that could put him in prison for good, and turn it into a pile of confetti. If he was going to get to him before the evidence was gone, he needed to act now.
He was heading up the stairs, when there was a burst of fire from a couple of floors up. He had to pull back quickly as AK fire narrowly missed him. He only caught a glimpse of the guy that fired on him. It wasn't security. It was someone wearing his club's colours.
He couldn't make it past. He'd gotten lucky once, but if he tried to go up these stairs now, with an AK at that range the guy would tear him to shreds. He looked across at the door to the offices on the floor he was on, and taking a deep breath, he ran, braving another burst of fire as he barged through the door, smashing it open. He sprawled onto the floor, but he could already see another member of his club looking his way with a machine pistol. He rolled out the way, taking cover in a cubicle.
"Shit." He whispered to himself. Even though he had already figured out what had happened, now there was no doubt that Spike Mike had been working for Winchester. Arthur had clearly known that Eli was likely to come for him and gotten the club to remain in the building.
"Come on out, you turncoat bastard!" One of them yelled. "We know you're here Eli! At least come out and die like a man!"
"Not likely." Eli whispered in response.
He crouched down, keeping low as he moved around the desk, looking for the way through the office. Unfortunately, he could already hear movement. There were more members of the club here, at least three, maybe more.
He was just looking for a way past, when he realised that one of them was already too close. He was coming towards him; he would see him any moment.
He dove out, putting his suppressed pistol on the man's foot, pumping a round straight into it, causing him to cry out. Eli snatched the man's pistol from him to prevent him firing as he broke into a run. Two others opened fire, but he dove to the ground, once again hiding among the cubicles.
Up in the top floor, Arthur was waiting for word on the disturbance going on beneath him. He'd seen the GB vehicles arrive along with the authorities. This was going to draw a lot of uncomfortable attention his way, and it was going to be expensive to make it all go away. He now had a war zone going on in his building, but he was already trying to figure out how best to spin this when the whole thing was resolved.
He had already called for a helicopter to pick him up from the roof. He didn't need to be here when the chaos really began. It was a perfectly natural instinct for someone whose building was under attack to try and escape right? The only reason he wasn't already half way out of the city was because Spike Mike refused to turn over his files. Once he had them all, he would ensure they never saw the light of day again. All he needed to do was get rid of Eli and from what he was hearing, it sounded like he was kind enough to come to them.
Spike Mike came into his office, carrying a pump-action shotgun.
"What the hell is this Winchester?" He asked. "Have you seen outside? The freaking army is out there!"
"Relax, everything is absolutely fine." Arthur told him. "They're GB. I own a controlling share. One phone call from me and they all disappear."
"Then make the call already!" Spike Mike told him. Arthur was bluffing, he knew that GB couldn't exactly just turn around and go home when gunfire and explosions were involved. They needed to at very least secure the premises, but it looked like Spike Mike had believed his line. The wheels in his head started turning and he thought he saw an opportunity.
"I will." Arthur told him. "As soon as you hand over those files."
"You think I was born yesterday?" Spike Mike asked him. "If I give those to you, what's to stop you just getting on a chopper and leaving us and GB to slaughter each other? No way, this here is my insurance policy."
They heard some more gunfire, and he just headed for the door.
"If I were you, I'd not go too far." Spike Mike warned him. "This'll all be over soon!"
Down several floors, the Rangers were going up, checking floor by floor to look for more casualties and security. It looked like most of the building was empty, but they couldn't risk anyone they didn't know about surprising them.
Zoey was scanning one of the floors when Devon came to her.
"How are you holding up?" He asked her.
"As well as can be expected." She sighed. "Eli's always been great at causing trouble, but this is new heights even for him."
"We'll find him." Ravi assured her. Just then, they heard some gunfire. They ran back out onto the stairwell.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Ravi asked. He leaned out, looking up, only to see a man holding an AK aiming down. He opened fire at him, at which Ravi pulled in. "OK, things are definitely kicking off up there. That looked like a member of Eli's club, about ten floors up!"
"Ten floors?" Zoey asked. Devon looked to her as she went back into the offices. She looked out across the street.
"No!" Devon told her. "ZOEY, NO!"
Before he could stop her, she ran at the window, smashing straight through it and leaping across the street. She planted both feet on the wall of the building opposite and sprung upwards. Devon went back onto the stairwell.
"Where's Zoey?" Nate asked him.
"Where do you think?" Devon asked in response. "Come on guys, we need to shut this down and fast!"
Elsewhere, Eli was trying to keep one step ahead of the guys stalking him, looking to the stairwell opposite him. He didn't know how he was going to make it past. As one of them came up to the cubicle he was hiding in, he grabbed him, pulling him down and snapped him into a choke hold. He started squeezing, causing him to pass out after only a few seconds. He released him, taking the man's gun. There was no point in leaving him armed when he finally did wake up. He was about to get up when he felt a gun being planted in the back of his skull.
"Drop the gun Eli." He warned him.
"You really going to shoot me?" Eli asked. "We're brothers…"
"You crossed the President! You don't do that!" He answered.
"You ever ask Spike Mike how he got that position?" Eli asked him.
"Don't make me do this!" The man responded. He could hear the hesitation in his voice. "I'm taking you to Spike Mike, he wants you."
"So, you're not willing to kill me yourself but you're going to deliver me to him to do it?" Eli asked him.
"Don't push me!" He yelled. "Just do it…"
Just then, they saw a yellow shape blurring past the window, heading upwards. The man was distracted enough that Eli felt the gun move. It was all the distraction he needed. He spun around, grabbing his arm to isolate the gun, before kneeing him in the crotch, then pistol-whipping him to the floor. He shook his head.
"Sorry, brother." He said, reclaiming his own pistol. "Once Mike's dealt with, I'll make this up to you."
With that, he headed back for the stairwell.
A couple of floors up, Zoey crashed through the window, rolling into the offices there. Four members of the club were there. They were startled by her sudden arrival, but heavily armed. Zoey didn't wait around for them to bring their weapons to bear.
She ran straight through them, hammering into them with bone-crunching power. All she could see when she looked at them was the men that had put her mother in an emergency room. They didn't deserve anything less than her returning the favour. As the last one hit the floor, she observed her handiwork, before heading back into the stairwell.
When she got there, she found Devon holding the guy with the AK. Ravi was bending the bannister into some makeshift restraints to hold him.
"We shut down this guy." Nate replied, smashing the AK across his knee.
"There are four more in there." She responded. "They're not going anywhere any time soon."
"I'll say they're not." Steel said, taking a glance inside and pulling back. "Jeez, I don't even have bones and I know humans aren't meant to bend that way."
"We need to find Eli." Zoey rushed out. "We've got no idea if…"
They heard a crash from below them and headed down. By the time they got there, they found three more members of the club down and out. One of them unconscious, and two of them crying out in pain. The door to the opposite stairwell was slightly ajar.
"This one's taken a bullet to the foot." Ravi commented. "This feels more like Eli's work."
"ELI!" Zoey yelled, pursuing him out into the stairwell. She was just in time to see a man falling to the floor with a couple of rounds to the leg. She'd barely heard anything. She ran up to see him, checking on him. The door to the next floor slammed shut. She ran up, hitting the door, but it wouldn't budge. Eli had barricaded it from the other side. "DAMN IT!"
"Zoey…"
"He's in there, he's just ahead of us!" Zoey told them, pounding the door with her fist. "I don't know what he blocked it with, but it's heavy!"
"That sounds like you're talking my language." Ravi replied, activating his Gorilla Strength. "Stand back!"
On the other side of the door, Eli moved away from the vending machine he'd overbalanced to block the door. He doubted it would hold out the military for long, but he didn't have many more to go through. There was only this floor and the next to go before he was on the damn roof.
He couldn't see any access to stairs from here. It looked like Winchester only allowed access to the top floor through an elevator. It would put him at a tactical disadvantage, only one way in, easy to cover. However, after everything he'd come through already, he had no intention of letting him go.
He was starting to make his way towards the elevator when someone grabbed his gun arm. Eli turned on him, punching him hard, but another hit him over the shoulder with a baseball bat. The two of them started to kick him viciously on the floor, softening him up as the Sergeant at Arms and Spike Mike came into view. They grabbed Eli, holding him up, yanking his head back.
"Eli, Eli, Eli…did you really think you wouldn't have to face up to us sooner or later?" Spike Mike asked him.
"To be honest, I was kind of hoping." He responded.
"You were the VP. You were riding high my man! You could have had it all!" Spike Mike told him. "What were you thinking?"
"I saw what you were turning the club into! I saw what you're turning them into!" Eli told him. "There's no way Opie would have ever signed off on this shit!"
"Opie is history, yesterday's news." Spike Mike reminded him. "I loved the guy just as much as you did. He patched me in too, but things change. Sooner or later the old guard slip away and fresh blood come in with fresh ideas…"
"And sometimes the old guard have a little help slipping away don't they?" Eli said, struggling against their grip.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that was an accusation." Spike Mike chuckled. "But accusations aren't the same as guilt. You were there when we voted to take your patch. You just had to turn it in. We didn't need to put the hit on you, but you just wouldn't turn over your kutte. Now…now we've got to do this the hard way!"
Just then, the door flew inwards as Ravi started smashing through it. The Sergeant and both the other riders dropped Eli and started firing towards the door. Eli saw his opportunity and surged forwards, tackling Spike Mike to the ground. He pounding into his face a few times, before seeing the file tucked into his pants. He pulled it out, and started sprinting towards the elevator. The doors opened and he threw himself inside, hitting the button for the penthouse. The rest of his club was no match for the Rangers, but he wasn't going to let even them get in his way. The Yellow Ranger was yelling something at him and trying to get to him as the doors shut, but he couldn't hear over the sound of weapons fire. He leaned against the side of the elevator, clutching his ribs. His head was spinning. He was hurt, and he had no weapons, but Winchester was going nowhere. Not if he had anything to do with it.
Zoey got to the door of the elevator just as they shut. She pounded her fist into it.
"Damn it!" She screamed, while her friends finished off Spike Mike and his boys. "Where are the stairs?"
"I don't think there are any." Steel said.
"It's a security measure." Ravi surmised. "The elevator must be the only way up."
"I'm going outside!" Zoey said, the panic in her voice obvious.
"Zoey, it's the tallest building in the block by a long way, I'm not even sure you could jump that high." Devon told her. He pressed the button for the elevator, but it just flashed, then went off. He tried another couple of times with the same result. "He must have disabled the elevator."
"Then what are we going to do?" Zoey asked him. Devon just looked to his team.
"The floor's open guys." He told them. "I'm open to suggestions."