Meanwhile, the fairgrounds had been mostly evacuated and surrounded by one half of the police department, who drew their Glock 17s and SIG-Sauer P226Rs in case Garrett and his friends reappeared. The other half tended to the now calmed but still frightened civilians, many of whom were wounded by stray gunfire and awaiting an ambulance.
James, Natalie, and Lucy were attending to Cassie, Victoria, and the latter's group of friends while Sheriff Nelson discussed the plan to draw Garrett's group out with Karen. Kayla and Jack both stared at the house of mirrors as more and more officers showed up at the scene. Among them was a young man with tan skin, amber eyes, and short black hair; a Glock 17 was in a holster attached to the waistband of his pants.
"Johnson!"
Karen looked up from her conversation with Sheriff Nelson and saw the man glancing around for her.
"Ramirez!" Karen beckoned him over to her spot, "Over here!"
As Ramirez navigated his way through the crowd, a limousine pulled up a few feet from where they stood. A stoic-looking woman with sunglasses dressed in a sapphire blue business suit exited through the driver's side and opened the door of the passenger side for the passenger, an older man with brown hair and a silver streak, hazel eyes, slightly tanned skin, and a black coat above a navy blue business suit. He surveyed the situation with the same kind of stoicism displayed by his chauffeur.
That same stoicism, however, did little to mask the anger he would have displayed due to the stupidity of the person responsible for the situation in the first place.
"What's the situation inside?" Ramirez crossed his arms.
"Four hostiles with guns," Sheriff Nelson explained, "Thankfully, none of them are automatics."
"They are currently in that house of mirrors with a civilian inside," Karen elaborated, "We're trying to box them inside and get them to surrender."
"They won't give up that easily."
Karen, Nelson, and Ramirez looked up again to find the businessman approaching as more than a few reporters managed to flash a picture of him.
"Mr. Crystal," Sheriff Nelson greeted the businessman.
"Mr. Nelson," Mr. Crystal nodded in return.
"Are you aware that your son is causing a bit of a panic here at the fairgrounds?"
"More than aware. I should've known better that something was wrong the moment he started asking for guns."
"You gave guns to Garrett and his group?" Karen approached carefully as Mr. Crystal nodded.
"They told me he wanted to take his friends out for target shooting. A flimsy excuse I saw through right away, and I still gave him the guns. A very bad decision, I'm just now realizing."
"More than bad," Lucy approached now, causing Mr. Crystal to straighten up his composure more.
"Hey, Lucy. How are you and Cassie?"
"A little better," Lucy nodded, "You and Mom?"
"More or less, the same," Mr. Crystal nodded back as the gunfire returned for a brief moment, causing the citizens to scream or flinch out of impulse.
"We need to get them to stand down," Sheriff Nelson continued with their plan as Karen and Ramirez joined the circle of cops who were planning to advance.
Eyeing one of the police cruisers, Kayla marched over and opened the trunk, revealing a vast assortment of guns, weapons, and other equipment. She grabbed a Glock 17, a flashlight, and a bulletproof vest, which she ripped the Police tag off from.
"Kayla, what are you doing?" Jack approached her.
"I have to help Marshall," Kayla replied, much to his concern, "I know it's dangerous, but if anyone of us doesn't do something, we're prolonging the chance of him being in danger."
After a brief moment, Jack sighed and grabbed a SIG-Sauer P226R, a flashlight, and a bulletproof vest, which he ripped the Police tag off from.
"Well, you can't go inside alone," Jack then grabbed a pistol-gripped Remington 870 with a breacher muzzle, which he loaded six shells into and checked the chamber before grabbing a couple of smoke and flashbang grenades.
Turning in the direction of the house of mirrors, they exchanged one more glance before breaking into a sprint, much to the horror and shock of the crowd, especially James, Natalie, and their group. Ignoring their pleas to stop and turn back, Kayla and Jack dashed into the house of mirrors and glanced around. Living up to its name and reputation, the building was filled to the brim with a plethora of different-shaped, different-sized glasses. The reflections of them all bounced off each other, creating a never-ending illusion that made it difficult for the unfortunate patrons to deduce what was real and what was fake.
As such, Kayla and Jack made the subconscious decision to stay together until the time to split up proved to be convenient.
Meanwhile, too far deep into the maze to even consider turning back, Garrett and his group opted to stay together as well, but their temptation to split up was just too strong to dismiss. Indeed, while they did stay together, the members elected to carefully drift away to cover more ground. Tension was slowly building up, as Kayla and Jack were beginning to catch up with Garrett's group, all of them with their firearms at the ready.
Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, Jessica saw it: the silhouette of a dog, if not the dog. Standing for a brief moment and using their nose to sniff the surrounding aroma, it seemed to notice her threatening presence and bolt away before she aimed her M1911A1 at the empty spot. Tugging Garrett on his coat sleeve, she pointed him in the same direction and led him towards it, whispering in his eyes what she saw.
Not even a moment later, Brad saw it again: the silhouette of the dog. Without thinking, he opened fire, accomplishing nothing but shattering the mirrors and earning the ire of his boss and his girlfriend.
Tessa opened fire a few minutes after because she too saw a silhouette...a human silhouette. Recognizing said silhouette as her former friend, she emptied all eight rounds into the mirrors surrounding them before she reloaded.
On the other side, Kayla returned fire with her Glock 17 and causing Garrett's group to finally split up while engaging in a gunfight with their pursuers. As Garrett fired his shotgun, Jack fired his own, blasting the mirrors to pieces and leaving massive holes the size of matzo balls into them. Both spent their six shells and took "cover" as they reloaded their shotguns before drawing their pistols with the intent of engaging in a brief handgun duel with each other.
Brad and Tessa spotted Kayla's shadow and opened fire, shattering the glass but not hitting the target. Their attention was immediately drawn away toward the silhouette of another dog; this time, it was the dog. They hastily opened fire as Marshall ran away, continuing to draw their attention away from his human allies.
The Dalmatian immediately met with his Dachshund friend and silently gestured her to go right while he went left. With that, he went to retrieve a pair of golf ball bags and spotted Kayla hiding while holding her Glock 17. Spotting him in turn, she watched Marshall wordlessly tell her to remain quiet while he sicced the bags of golf balls onto them. Nodding in understanding, she and Marshall spotted Jack a few feet away and motioned him to come to their position. Explaining the plan to him, Jack nodded as well before pulling out a pair of smoke grenades.
Glancing up, Marshall spotted the Dachshund waiting on his signal. Nodding to her, she activated a mechanism that lifted the bags up and poured the golf balls on the four, catching them off guard. Jack pulled the pin on the smoke grenades and tossed them in their direction before he, Kayla, Jack, and the Dachshund made their escape.
They were a few inches away from the exit before they were blindsided by Garrett, who managed to snatch the Dachshund away and hold her hostage.
Kayla and Jack trained their Glock 17 and SIG-Sauer P226R on Garrett, who held his SIG-Sauer P229R on the now frightened Dachshund.
"Stay back!" Garrett trained his pistol now on Marshall, who was fearful for his friend's safety, "Or this little mutt gets it!"
Suddenly, the Dashchund wriggled free and bit down hard on Garrett's gun hand, causing him to scream out in pain.
"AGH! You little fucker!"
Garrett manhandled the Dachshund and slammed her into a nearby mirror, knocking the wind out of her. A now enraged Marshall charged at Garrett, who was still recovering from the wound before he was knocked down by Marshall. The Dalmatian began clawing at his larger opponent's face before he was tossed away. Garrett grabbed his P229R before Kayla and Jack fired shots, staving him off long enough for Marshall to drag his friend away from the line of fire. Jack took the injuried Dachshund and tossed a flashbang grenade in his direction, blinding him and his arriving three friends.
Kayla fired her Glock as the four of them exited the house of mirrors and into the safety of the police department outside.
"Kayla!" James and Natalie called for their adoptive daughter as Kayla's former friends looked in their direction.
"Take her," Jack deposited the unconscious Dachshund into Karen's arms, "She's been injured."
BANG-BANG!
Everybody screamed out in alarm or took cover at the sound of gunfire, which were becoming dangerously closer and closer to the exit.
Marshall glanced around and spotted a terrified Victoria and her friends being tended to by Sheriff Nelson and Lucy. His mind then flashed back to the sight of her sporting that hand slap courtesy of Garrett and her birthday party being ruined by him and his friends. He remembered how fearful and petrified she was. He remembered Garrett slamming his new friend into a mirror, rendering her unconscious. He remembered how Kayla was bullied by him during her high school years, causing her friends to turn on her for something she was framed.
HONK-HONK!
He then spotted a fire truck just a few feet away arriving on the scene, its occupants exiting the vehicle to discuss the situation with the police department. At that moment, Garrett and his friends exited the house of mirrors as he spotted the new bane of his existence standing a few feet from him.
Making a split second decision, Marshall ran to and inside the fire truck as Garrett fired his P229R at him.
"Marshall, no!" Kayla called out as the Dalmatian worked his way around the large seat and controls to turn the engine over. Once this was accomplished, he worked to turn the equally large steering wheel and safely manuever his way away from the fairgrounds.
Undeterred, Garrett and his friends commandeered four police cruisers and sped off after him as a separate seven-member squadron led by Sheriff Nelson gave chase in response. Kayla, Jack, Karen, and Lucy gave chase as well in one single cruiser, not wanting their friend to get killed.
Despite his time in the town, Marshall was unfamiliar with his surroundings and made it his best to avoid hitting any pedestrian or police officer. As such, he repeatedly honked the horn in an attempt to clear a path down the road. The civilians who were going about their business managed to heed the warnings and scramble out of the way as a fire truck sped by, twelve different police cruisers giving chase.
Garrett sped past his friends from the left and rapidly fired his P229R at the fire truck, hitting its side and leaving holes as a result. On the right, Jessica made it to the front as she fired her M1911A1 and hitting the right rearview mirror. Tessa fired her Walther PPK from the back, and Brad fired his Glock 17 from the front.
Catching from behind was Sheriff Nelson, who fired his Beretta 92FS at Garrett, who fired back while holding the steering wheel. When Tessa attempted to aid him, she was rear-ended by the car carrying Kayla, Jack, Karen, and Lucy and turned her attention to them instead. Jessica hit the brakes and sped up again when she was even with them, firing her pistol at the group, who drove faster past her. Karen drew her Glock 19 and subsequently opened fire, attempting to hit the tires and run her off the road. It proved difficult, however, they were surrounded by numerous buildings and stray pedestrians.
Garrett reloaded his P229R and continued firing at the fire truck, Marshall flinching with each shot inside. Suddenly, he hitted the brakes and screeched to a stop before spinning right round so the front of the fire truck was now facing Garrett. Garrett himself hit the brakes not long after, facing off with the Dalmatian.
Kayla, Jack, Karen, Lucy, Jessica, Brad, Tessa, Sheriff Nelson, and the latter's mini squadron all stopped dead in their tracks after, glancing back and forth between Marshall and Garrett. The two opponents were now engaged in a standoff with each other, revving their engines and daring the other to make the first move.
The former had no ulterior motive in mind: he just wanted to end this confrontation, plain and simple.
The latter plainly and simply wanted to prove a point against those who stood up to him: nobody messed with him.
VROOM!
Marshall and Garrett turned their engines over at the same time, speeding towards each other at high speed. Kayla, Jack, Karen, Lucy, and Sheriff Nelson looked on in horror, a sharp Jessica, Brad, and Tessa, who were long subdued by the mini squadron.
Garrett smirked...
Marshall grimaced...
...before the latter immediately accelerated, much to the former's shock. However, because he was the kind of person who did not know when to quit while ahead, Garrett growled and accelerated in turn, much to the surprise of Jessica, Brad, and Tessa, all of whom had been since apprehended by the authorities.
Even Garrett seemed to realize the hole in his logic and attempted to swerve out of the way at the last moment.
CRASH!
Unfortunately for him, his haste in doing so resulted in his car being clipped from the bumper, which saw it being flipped multiple times before crashing into a fire hydrant.
While Marshall received less damage due to his larger vehicle, he fared no much better. Hitting the brakes a little harder than he anticipated, he still hit Garrett's car and sent it flying, much to his horror before the fire truck tipped over to its side due to said brakes. Also, because he neglected to put on a seatbelt in his hurry to lead Garrett and the other friends, he himself was briefly sent flying as a result.
Marshall eventually landed...somewhere as the dust settled, the noises became nothing but high-pitched rings, and his vision descended to nothing but blurred as he faded into unconsciousness. All the while, he could only the sirens of police cars and a single voice calling for him through them.
"Marshall...!"